RU-Newark to Recognize Student & Employee Veterans on Nov. 12

Some 300 military veterans are now part of the Rutgers University-Newark student community, thanks to improvements in veterans educational benefits. In addition to these student veterans, many faculty and staff members have served their country as well.

On Nov. 12 an afternoon of free public programs at RU-Newark will address issues of interest to veterans of all eras, and offer an opportunity for the campus community to recognize and thank those who have served.

The programs begin at 2:30 p.m. with “The Mission Continues: A Women’s Perspective on Transitioning from Military Service,” a talk by Rachel McNeil, a former sergeant. It will take place in Room 231 of the Paul Robeson Campus Center, located at 350 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

McNeil enlisted in the Army Reserves at age 17 in 2002 and was deployed to Iraq with the 983rd Engineer Battalion from December 2004 - December 2005. In the summer of 2005, her unit was relocated from Tikrit / Samarra to Ramadi, and her primary duty was as a driver or gunner.

McNeil also served in Panama in 2007, working on school, clinic, and road development in the Bocas del Toro region. Since her medical retirement in 2010, she has been involved in the Warrior Writer’s project, which publishes veterans’ stories and artwork. McNeill also is active in Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the first and largest veteran’s organization dedicated completely to improving the lives of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

The program concludes with, “What Process Is Due: The Role of Courts in National Security,” featuring James E. Baker, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.

This conversation will begin at 4:30 p.m. in the Baker Court of the Rutgers Center for Law and Justice, located at 123 Washington St.

The talk is this year’s Annual Judge Leonard I. Garth Lecture, sponsored by the Rutgers School of Law-Newark. Baker, chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, was first appointed by President William J. Clinton for a 15-year termin September 2000.

Baker, who graduated from Yale College and Yale Law School, was an infantry officer in the Marine Corps, and also has served as special assistant to the President and legal advisor to the National Security Council, deputy legal advisor to the National Security Council, counsel to the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and Intelligence Oversight Board, and attorney advisor in the Office of the Legal Advisor, U.S. Department of State.

information and image courtesy of the Office of Communications at Rutgers University Newark