By Amanda Purser
Cameron’s Coordinator of Veterans Affairs, Vicki Henson has been working hard to coordinate all of the Veteran related events this fall, and despite the complications of a government shutdown limiting her options, most of her annual events are in full swing across campus.
The following is a schedule breakdown of what has happened and is to come during Cameron’s 2025 Veteran Events:
At 10:15 a.m. on Nov. 5, Cameron ROTC fired “Big Ollie” the cannon on campus, to kick off the Veteran’s week events, on the east side of the pond in Bentley Gardens.
At 1 p.m. on Nov. 11 the Veteran’s Day observance ceremony will take place, following a free lunch from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Shepler Cafeteria, provided to all veterans and active-duty service members.
On Nov. 3, volonteers planted 7,000 flags around campus, which is an honored tradition that began around 2011. Initially, the flags were to memorialize the fallen service members from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, in support of the National Remembrance Roll Call initiative.
Although the Roll Call has ended, Cameron maintains this tradition to continue honoring all current veterans, and service members who will be future veterans within our community. The flags will remain on campus until Nov. 12 when the Veteran Observance is completed.
The Bishop schools’ leadership classes, as well as local 4H clubs reached out to Henson to coordinate their assistance with volunteering for flag planting. Henson said that this event wouldn’t be possible without all of the special volunteers who come to campus and participate in planting all of these small but numerous displays of patriotism.
The Veteran Resource Fair started around 2012. The event occurs every six months because Henson feels resources and information need to be constantly updated and available to anyone who might need them.
“I always look at it that a year is a long time to not offer the resources in a military community because of transitioning military personnel and active-duty servicepeople and those moving in and out of the community,” she said.
Vet Fest became an added addition a few years later, bringing additional key speakers on campus and providing valuable information on federal Veteran Affairs resources, medical services, disability claims and mental health assistance, to name a few.
The current government shutdown has severely impacted many areas and organizations that rely and depend on federal resources, and the Vet Fest event is feeling the effects as well. Henson has pivoted and changed the scope of the festival this year, combining the event into a big Resource Fair, due to lack of federal employees and entities available that have been furloughed.
“This year is a little different because of the federal shutdown. We won’t have the speakers that we’ve done before with Vet Fest, so it’s kind of impacting that a little bit,” Henson said.
She added, “We are going ahead with the Resource Fair, and I have approximately 20 different organizations coming in. It’s amazing — when we offer this — I get a new organization or two that I can bring to the Resource Fair and have them share information.”
More information on the Vet Resource Fair and Veteran’s Day Observance events can be found on Page 2, News.
Henson urges all veterans, service members and family members to take full advantage of these events on campus that showcase a multitude of vendors with valuable information for them in a convenient location.
Henson said, “There are a lot of services — and free services, that don’t cost them anything — and benefits that are available to them, that they might not realize that they can take advantage of. It can help them to improve the quality of their lives and their family’s lives.”