A Fall 2020 webinar series sponsored by the Moral Injury Project of Hendricks Chapel will focus on veterans, student veterans and military personnel “finding true north” in the midst of transitional times.
The first program in the series, “Finding True North in the Midst of Change: Veteran Transition from Military to College and College to Work,” will be held Friday, Oct. 16, from noon-1:30 p.m. on Zoom. Registration is open now.
“This first event is an opportunity to discuss the challenge of transitioning from military service to higher education and then the workplace. Our panelists will share advice, strategies and stories that will be helpful to veterans, veterans service coordinators, higher education faculty and future employers,” says Eileen Schell, coordinator of the Moral Injury Project and professor of writing and rhetoric in the College of Arts and Sciences.
The program panel will feature Jennifer Reddy, associate director of continuing education at Le Moyne College and Moral Injury Project member since 2015, and Jennifer Jeffery ’14 G’17, an academic librarian at SUNY Potsdam and veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard, in which she served for seven years. Both have experience working in academic and career services for veterans to help reintegrate them into their communities and discover a sense of belonging outside of the military culture. Michael Venditte, an Army veteran and Le Moyne College graduate, will also serve on the panel. Venditte served as president of the Le Moyne College Student Veterans Association as a student, and since his graduation has continued to work with the Moral Injury Project.
In addition to presenting on the challenges of veteran transition, the panel will address how colleges and universities, employers and the public at large can educate themselves and support successful transitions.
The fall Moral Injury Project series is built around two key terms: transition and moral injury. The first term—transition—involves undergoing a period of change and re-direction that affects a person’s identity and self-development. The second key term is moral injury, which refers to the damage done to one’s conscience or moral compass when that person perpetrates, witnesses or fails to prevent acts that transgress one’s own moral beliefs, values or ethical codes of conduct.
The Nov. 11 program, “Finding True North through Writing: Veterans Sharing Their Stories on Veteran’s Day” will take place from 7-8:30 p.m. on Zoom and will be moderated by group leaders and Schell and Ivy Kleinbart, writing instructor in the College of Arts and Sciences. The program will feature readings by members of the Syracuse Veterans’ Writing Group.
The third program, “Finding True North Through Building Trauma Resiliency,” will be held Nov. 20, from 12-1:30 p.m. on Zoom. The program will feature Bill Cross, a Vietnam veteran and practicing psychotherapist in Syracuse who has worked with military veterans and their families for over 35 years. He will discuss his work with trauma resiliency, as well as his own story as a Vietnam veteran and veteran advocate.
Registration for all programs is free and required. Attendees will be invited to participate in a question and answer session during each program. Please register through Zoom here: Oct. 16, Nov. 11 and Nov. 20.
Communication Access Realtime Transcription (CART) services will provide captioning for each program and American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation will be provided. For questions or to request additional accommodations, contact Hendricks Chapel at chapel@syr.edu or 315.443.2901. For more information, visit moralinjuryproject.syr.edu.
