While dozens of Utah cities have signed the Community Covenant, Utah State is the first educational institution in the state--and one of the first in the U.S.--to do so.
On hand at the ceremony were Stan Albrecht, president of Utah State University; Noelle Crockett, vice president of USU extension; Maj. Gen. Jeff Burton, adjutant general of the Utah National Guard; and recently retired and former Utah Guard adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Brian Tarbet, a Utah State alumnus and Cache Valley native.
The signing formalized an already-strong commitment on the part of Utah State University to support its student-veterans and their families.
"We're really excited for this partnership," said Albrecht. "We are are first university [in the state] to do this. Being a land-grant university, we have a presence in all 29 counties in the state. This reflects our commitment and interest in what the military does."
"We're trying to do everything we can to acknowledge [our veterans'] service by making the transition back as smooth as it can be and creating educational opportunities for them," added Albrecht. "And just as important is that the students sitting here in the stands get to see what we're doing."
The Community Covenant helps bring together the academic and military communities to more effectively recognize the contributions of student-servicemembers.
The overall goal of the Community Covenant program is to educate local leaders on the challenges that servicemembers and their families experience in all phases of deployment (before, during and after), provide them with information on programs available to help military family members and create a dialogue with the Utah National Guard and other military organizations to ensure that communities can meet the needs of servicemembers, veterans and their families.
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