Tom Webb, graduate student and former military and veterans services office employees, spoke at a Feb. 16 town hall for discussion on veterans affairs. Webb co-wrote a petition letter detailing perceived injustices against NDSUs military population.
On a day honoring America’s military and veterans, three North Dakota State military and veteran students took time to air their grievances against NDSU’s military and veterans services office.
In a 1,300 word Change.org petition letter on Nov. 11, Christopher Eggen, Colin Larrabee and Tom Webb described the perceived injustices against NDSU’s military population while listing several services the letter’s writers would like to see added to the office. The office, renamed the military and veterans certification area, saw a fallout last November when all but one person resigned or was removed.
The petition letter, titled “North Dakota State University is not military friendly and is failing its veterans,” essentially asked for three things: a full-time certifying official, a full-time veteran services coordinator and a gathering space for the more than 450 students identifying as military members and veterans at NDSU.
The hiring of Scott Fuller, a retired, 30-year Air Force veteran, filled one gap. The vets office had been without a full-time certifying official following the August resignation of Kaarin Remmich. Remmich had served in that role for seven years at the office before she left for another job after returning from maternity leave last summer.
Webb said Remmich left due to poor treatment from registration & records.
“I would see her crying a lot,” he said. “They just kept changing the title to make her sound more important but then loading more stuff on top of her without any more pay or any more benefit.”
Fuller is undergoing training with registrar Rhonda Kitch, who has managed the office since last fall.
“I wish him the best and I hope he is able to serve the veterans here on campus as the new certifying official,” Webb said in an email.
While the certifying official position is filled, the veteran services coordinator position is not, though Kitch said Fuller will evaluate future positions in the office after he is adjusted to NDSU.
Webb said Remmich was instrumental in veteran programming, doing above and beyond the duties of certifying official.
“She cared so much; she was helping out while she was having her baby,” he said.
Kitch, who continues oversight of the office, said a veterans gathering space is “a great question and not one I can speak to because our focus is on certification.”
“Our office would not be involved in that at all. I know there’s discussion but I don’t know where the formality of things are,” she said, adding the certification area and gathering space “from a best practice standpoint, should not be together.”
Webb, who is graduating in spring, said in an email he has “to move on from this part of his life” for his “own reasons.”
“From somethings (sic) I have heard, the veterans on campus and the new certifying official want to take things in a different direction,” he said.
The Spectrum contacted Eggen and Larrabee for comments. Larrabee did not reply while Eggen could not meet for an interview by press time.
I just wanted to clarify that all student workers have resigned from the Military & veterans service office, at the time of the initial article in November I was gone for military training and resigned shortly after returning.