When former Navy machinist Lauren DelRicci arrived at Burlington County College in 2004, she felt "a certain emptiness" at no longer serving her country.
Military veterans are cast "from a different mold than traditional students," said DelRicci, 27, of Glassboro. "We've toured the world and served our country. We have problems of stress and anxiety that might be different from many students."
She gradually became more comfortable on campus, DelRicci said, but she didn't want other former military personnel to struggle as she had. A year ago, DelRicci helped create a student organization for vets at Rowan University, where she is now a graduate student in public relations.
The group's dozen members will host a university Veterans Day remembrance today, with ROTC color guard, the Rowan band, and comments from Retired U.S. Army Col. Michael Shute, former director of New Jersey's National Guard.
The number of on-campus veterans clubs and veterans-services offices is growing nationwide, especially since a new GI bill was enacted in August. Since it was founded last year, Student Veterans of America - a national coalition of campus organizations - has attracted more than 200 groups, including those at five Philadelphia-area schools.
In West Philadelphia, Drexel University yesterday dedicated a veterans office. The school hopes to organize a student group for current and former servicemen and women by spring.
"It's about providing a sense of community" and "demonstrating that this a veteran-friendly campus," said Shannon Finning, associate dean of students.
Drexel's veteran enrollment is about 160 - up 15 percent over last year, roughly the national trend - largely because of the new GI benefits, the most generous since the original 1944 bill.
The benefits cover most, if not all, of the cost of vocational-technical, undergraduate, and graduate programs. Tuition and living allowances vary by state. Eligibility is based on length of service after Sept. 10, 2001, and benefits are transferable to a veteran's spouse or children. The bill is projected to cost $62 billion over 10 years, according to the VA.
New Jersey's nine state schools have experienced up to a 50 percent increase in veteran enrollment, said Wendy Lang, director of the veterans project of the New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities.
In addition to schools' own initiatives to help veterans, New Jersey's Legislature enacted a Troops to College program that requires each public campus to hire an assistance officer to oversee financial aid to veterans and help with other applications. Pennsylvania does not have a state requirement, but many schools have created or enhanced veterans' services.
Rutgers-Camden student Bryan Adams, 25, of Palmyra, actively lobbied for Troops to College and other campus supports.
When he was discharged from the Army after being wounded twice in Iraq, he wanted nothing more to do with the military.
Then, "I realized I couldn't relate to anyone," said Adams, who helped develop Rutgers-Camden's organization for vets. "Even though [university] programs are in place, a peer-to-peer group is the most beneficial thing."
Adams often drops by a lounge for veterans in the Rutgers-Camden student center, one of the first projects pursued by Fred Davis, who was hired in April as campus veterans-affairs coordinator.
"The vets need a safe haven," said Davis, a Navy veteran and former Camden police detective. "We also work on reintegration into society as they come back from Iraq and Afghanistan."
It's not an easy transition, many vets said.
"You go from a completely structured environment to 'you wake up when you feel like it, go to class when you feel like it,' " said Matt Poth, a former Marine machine gunner from Coatesville and a member of the veterans club at Penn State in University Park.
The 23-year-old education major noticed a maturity gap. "Students just out of high school talk about parties," Poth said. "I haven't been to any parties. I went to Iraq."
Beyond social and psychological support, organizations provide practical help such as tutoring, career assistance, and an alumni network.
"Because the transition from the military to a career in business is a fairly drastic career change, veterans tend to be pretty good about reaching back to help other vets," said Rick Lund, an MBA candidate at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a former Marine helicopter pilot deployed twice to Iraq.
"The club provides a link between alumni and students. It also provides a lasting network of professional contacts and friendships after we've left Wharton," said Lund, copresident of the Wharton Veterans Club.
Student veterans need peers and mentors who "speak their language - somebody who knows a little about where they're coming from," said Linda Pohl, an online academic adviser at Drexel and a Vietnam-era Army veteran.
Pohl reaches out to veterans when they arrive on campus. Some discuss trepidations about sharing political views in class, though other students have tended to be respectful to soldiers - unlike when she was discharged, Pohl said.
Yet some experiences are best shared with fellow soldiers, said Nicholas Santarone, faculty adviser to the club on Penn State's Abington campus.
Iraq "is a pretty bad war. When these guys come back, they've got to unwind and decompress," he said. "It helps that they have others to talk to."
Contact staff writer Cynthia Henry at 856-779-3970 or chenry@phillynews.com.
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