UA maintains ‘Military Friendly’ rank for sixth consecutive year

For Steven Downey, there was no question that he would join the U.S. Army right after high school, with college to follow later. After all, there’s a history of military service in his family, along with strong ties to The University of Akron.

Steven Downey

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His parents, Ray and Jeanette, met at UA as students, and two of his three sisters also are graduates. Even if it hadn’t been part of his long-range plan, Downey had promised his mother shortly before she died of breast cancer in 2007 that he would earn a college degree.

“I’m very grateful for the way the University has increased its services for veterans,” says Downey, a 2005 graduate of Stow High School. “The people in the Military Services Center are so supportive, especially with helping veterans receive academic credit for military training and service. To sum it up in one phrase — they go above and beyond.”

UA recognized for efforts

It is the wide range of academic and support services provided to current service members and returning military veterans that has just earned UA a sixth consecutive Military Friendly Schools designation by Victory Media, publisher of G.I. Jobs magazine. The designation, which the University has received every year since it was established, puts UA in the top 15 percent of all colleges, universities and trade schools. In addition, UA also is ranked as a Servicemembers Opportunity College.

There are approximately 1,200 student-veterans at UA, says Mary Rossett, associate director of military services and the Transfer & Adult Student Enrollment Center.

“We are seeing growing numbers of veterans returning from the service,” says Rossett. “The University is committed to making their transition to civilian and college life as smooth as possible as they prepare for new careers by surrounding them with resources to help them succeed.”

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Downey knows firsthand how difficult it can be.

“I had a tough transition, but I have an incredible family and amazing friends who helped me, and continue to help me, with any hardships I might face,” says Downey. As a combat medic, he was deployed to Iraq, where he earned a Combat Medical Badge for performing medical duties while in direct enemy contact.

During his six years with the Army, Downey also served in Africa and was stationed at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where his duties included coordinating organ transplants. While there, he also worked with a speech audiologist, due to the hearing loss he had sustained from bomb blasts in Iraq.

Choosing new directions

That experience, along with his medical background, led Downey to choose speech pathology and audiology as his major. While he researched programs at area schools, he says UA’s military friendly reputation, and his family ties, brought him here.

“I love the classes,” says Downey, who enrolled at UA in 2012. “The credits I earned for my military training and service put me ahead of the game. I only have three semesters left until I graduate.”

He’s also embraced campus involvement as well.

“I joined Lambda Chi, my father’s fraternity,” says Downey. “I’ve met a great group of guys. My college experience is better for having joined.”

He is serving his fellow student-veterans as president of the Military Veterans Association, and as the inaugural commander of American Legion Post 808 — the first-ever post on the UA campus — which was established earlier this year.

“I see the MVA and Post 808 as opportunities to help fellow veterans, because I’ve gone through what they are going through,” notes Downey. “They’re family to me.”

Related:

• Visit the Military Services Center online.