Congratulations are in order to Northeastern’s Student Veteran’s Organization (SVO) for recently being recognized as the top chapter of Student Veterans of America, a well-deserved honor for the organization that advocates and supports the university’s 300-plus veterans.Student Veterans of America, a national organization that advocates for the generation of veterans seeking higher education after serving in the United States Military following Sept. 11, bestowed the honor on the Northeastern chapter at its national conference in Orlando, Fla. last week. The Northeastern organization beat out finalists from Arizona State University, Forsyth Technical College and University of South Florida. According to a university press release, “the Northeastern chapter was credited for the strength of its university services and programming and its broader efforts to help student veterans across the nation.”

The SVO provides services and advocacy for Northeastern’s veterans, and runs events to help foster relationships and a community among these students. It helps veterans navigate a sea of financial aid and other benefits available to veterans from the federal government and the university, and helps veterans transition from military to student life. Coming from the military’s structured environment, many veterans struggle in the college environment, where there is no one to tell you what to do, or how and when to do it. Furthermore, since many veterans are older than the typical student, it can be difficult for them to fit in with 18-year-old freshmen.

Among the most important of the SVO’s services may be the community it fosters for Northeastern’s veterans. With veterans committing suicide and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder in record numbers – at a rate of one suicide every 36 hours according to a 2011 study from the Center for a New American Security – it is imperative that they have the opportunity to be a part of a community with others who understand them. By bringing Northeastern’s veterans together, the SVO can work to create said community and offer support to those who need it.

The success of Northeastern’s SVO is fitting on a campus that has produced the country’s top ROTC cadet two years in a row. Northeastern’s ROTC program was one of eight programs in the nation to receive a MacArthur Award in 2011.

And just as Northeastern students have achieved such success, the university has gone to great lengths to support its veteran population. The school offers 252 awards to cover the difference between veterans’ Post-9/11 G.I. Bill, which provides veterans with $18,077.50 per year for higher education, and the cost of attending Northeastern, through the US Department of Veterans Affairs’ Yellow Ribbon Program. According to the Northeastern press release, the school provided $2 million in 2009 to veterans through this program.

Northeastern’s SVO may very well be the school’s most distinguished student group, and should be recognized as such. The leaders and members of the SVO are role models for the Northeastern community. They have helped create an environment in Northeastern that fosters academic success for America’s heroes. They have dedicated themselves to the services of their school, their country and veterans everywhere, and they should take pride in their success.