Tag: HLS Veterans (Page 2 of 4)

HLS Hosts Panel on Providing Legal Services to Underserved LGBTQ Veterans

December 1, 2017 / jmathew

The AFA teamed up with Harvard Law’s Lambda (an affinity group for LGBTQ and allied students), the National Security & Law Association, and the Veterans Legal Clinic to host a panel of attorneys and leaders working to support LGBTQ veterans.

The presenters included:

John Campbell, Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative, and former Department of Defense Under Secretary for Warrior Care
Evan Seamone, Veterans Legal Clinic of the Legal Services Center
Lynn Girton, Veterans Legal Services

The presenters discussed and took questions about the mental health and physical health consequences of identity concealment related to the military’s discrimination policies, such as Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. The presenters also discussed their efforts to provide legal services to veterans discharged under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and to help them access Veterans Affairs disability benefits.

AFA Celebrates Promotion of MAJ Jenna Reed (USMC)

November 21, 2017 / jmathew

On November 17, AFA celebrated the promotion of one of its members Jenna Reed, from Captain to Major (USMC). Colonel McCarthy, a Marine colonel who is a National Security Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, came to do the honors. Thanks to Colonel McCarthy for doing the honors, and thanks to everyone for coming out!

VA Secretary Shulkin Speaks at HLS

November 13, 2017 / khowell

On November 2, 2017, Dr. David Shulkin, the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, delivered the 2017 DAV Distinguished Speaker Lecture at Harvard Law School. Former National Commander of DAV Alan Bowers, a disabled combat veteran of the Vietnam War, provided introductory remarks. The event was co-hosted by the Veterans Legal Clinic and AFA.

After the lecture, Secretary Shulkin had lunch with community leaders to discuss critical issues in the veterans community, and he later traveled to Jamaica Plain to visit the Veterans Legal Clinic.

For the full article, please visit the Legal Services Center’s website. The Harvard Law Today and the Harvard Gazette also reported on the event.

Credit: Jeffrey Blackwell/Memorial Church Communications

Harvard Dedicates Four Chaplains Plaque at Memorial Church

November 13, 2017 / khowell

On November 11, Veterans Day, a plaque was dedicated to Harvard’s Four Chaplains who met at Harvard’s Army Chaplains School in 1942. The Four Chaplains reunited on the U.S.A.T. Dorchester in route to Greenland when the ship was torpedoed by an enemy u-boat. They gave up their own life vests to save others and died together, singing hymns. The morning’s keynote speaker, Rabbi Arnold E. Resnicoff, a retired Navy chaplain, reflected on the chaplains’ legacy and their lessons for the modern day:

“The fact that they worked side by side broke down walls, shattered ceilings,” he said. “Today there might also be a Hindu or a Muslim or a Buddhist chaplain. There may be a woman or a black chaplain side by side. We have to remember today that we are recognizing all chaplains, all races, all genders.”

Harvard’s Memorial Church was dedicated 85 years ago to Harvard’s faculty, students, and alumni who perished in World War I. Read the full article in the Harvard Gazette here.

Harvard Law Today Profiles Four Incoming Veterans

November 9, 2017 / khowell

Harvard Law Today and the Harvard Gazette profiled three veterans in the Class of 2020 — Isabel Marin, Nate Jester, and Steve Kerns — as well as Jenna Reed, an LL.M. student currently serving as an officer in the Marine Corps. The profiles share the types of unique experiences and insights that our members bring to the student body, and the article emphasizes the growing size of our community.

AFA is proud of Isabel, Nate, Steven, Jenna and all of our other members, and we’re thankful that articles like these remind folks that we’re here, we’ve done good, and we’re doing well.

Read their profiles here!

Credit: Heratch Photography