[media-credit name=’CHARLIE GORICHANAZ/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]

Each fall, thousands of new University of Wisconsin students pile into the dorms. Fresh out of high school, many of these students are anxious to live far from the watchful eye of their parents for the first time.

But for many of UW’s military veteran students, on-campus housing options may not be the best fit.

Upon returning from Iraq, UW sophomore Jason Bischoff moved into the dorms and turned 21 soon thereafter. While excited about living in the dorms, Bischoff felt much older than other students on his floor.

“In general, day-to-day activities when kids were goofing off, the way they goofed off was kind of younger and immature,” Bischoff said. “They were giggling at drawing penises on white boards around people’s doors.”

Many veterans echoed Bischoff’s sentiments about dorm life, including junior Curtis Laluzerne who was 23 when he moved onto campus. Laluzerne got together with other veterans and rented a house by Camp Randall for the 2008-09 academic year so they could live with people they felt a connection with.

“There are a bunch of us that kind of have the same background and knew how each other operated and stuff like that,” Laluzerne said. “It’s nice to have someone living with you that you can relate to.”

Bischoff, who is not living in the house, said he would have enjoyed the benefits of living with other veterans.

“I would have chosen to live there so I was around other people like myself,” he said.

Chuck Goranson, veterans benefits counselor at Vets for Vets, said while he is not affiliated with the house, he knows many people living there and thinks it is a good idea given the age disparity between many returning veterans and incoming freshmen living in the dorms.

“They like it because they’re around more mature students,” Goranson said.

But University Health Services Director Bob McGrath said there may be a downside to living in a house with fellow veterans because of the potential for isolation, adding it is important for veterans to have “that point of connection” to the student body.

UW consistently has one of the smallest percentages of student veterans of all schools in the UW System, according to Goranson. The 592 veterans enrolled at UW for fall 2009 make up about half a percent of the student population.

“There are so few vets on campus. That 592 figure includes anybody with military experience — a Korean War vet who is enrolled for a course counts toward that number,” Goranson said. “The number of returning Iraq vets is much smaller.”

Goranson added smaller UW campuses like UW-River Falls and UW-Superior consistently have high numbers of veterans enrolled in classes.

Laluzerne said Madison’s longstanding protest culture could be as a reason for low veteran enrollment.

“You always have the protests just because it’s the capital city,” Laluzerne added. “Last year every week or two there was always something that came up; [I] always saw people just going out and protesting.”

But Goranson said he remains clueless as to why there are so few veterans at UW. The university, he added, treats veterans “quite well.”

The small population of veterans on campus has become accustomed to the constant flow of questions about their military experiences. Bischoff said he is willing to discuss his experiences but becomes frustrated when people ask him uneducated questions.

“It’s awkward when they ask general questions like, ‘How was Iraq?'” he said.

While open to discussing his time in the military, Bischoff added if he changes the subject, “it’s for a reason.”

While Bischoff is open to discussing his experiences, Goranson said many veterans do not want to talk about their time in the military because of the uncomfortable questions they are often asked.

“The classic question that a naive person would ask a veteran is ‘Did you kill someone?’ And if they did, they certainly wouldn’t want to talk about it,” Goranson added.

Currently, 19 male and female students live in the house, 13 of whom are veterans. Last year, the house was split between veterans and members of Zeta Psi fraternity, who have moved out for 2008-09.

On-Campus Resources

Benefits like free tuition are available to returning student veterans. Both Vets for Vets and Student Veterans Services work with these student to help sort through necessary paperwork.

Linda Struck, veterans coordinator at SVS, said in addition to undergraduate and graduate tuition, veterans get an “monthly stipend for educational purposes.”

A newsletter and website are made available to all student veterans through Vets for Vets, Goranson said, with the ultimate goal of “making sure that vets are getting all the benefits they deserve.”

McGrath said returning veterans can receive free short-term counseling, but those in need of long-term care are given referrals for help outside UHS.

Currently, one-on-one care is the only option for veterans. Yet McGrath said if there is demand, he would be open to creating group therapy sessions.

Veterans may seek counseling if they are having “readjustment issues being back on campus or interpersonal or relational issues because of the gap of being gone for a long time,” McGrath said.

Reintegrating and “concentrating on academics after years of being away from academics” are additional reasons veterans seek out help, McGrath added.

However, Bischoff said the resources on campus do not actively seek out veterans. Aside from the “little bit of exposure” he has gotten to them, Bischoff said they “do not actively pursue you to get the benefits.”