SEMO Veterans Plaza a poignant tribute

Nestled behind Academic Hall and facing Memorial Hall at Southeast Missouri State University is the new Veterans’ Plaza, a tribute to military members — past, present and future. While significant in tribute, it’s also a reminder of the university’s commitment to America’s returning veterans.

When Tom Meyer joined the Southeast Board of Regents in 2011, then-president Dr. Ken Dobbins asked him about his service priorities. Meyer, a veteran of the Navy Seabees and local real estate agent, said he was focused on ways the university could serve its returning veterans.

“We don’t want to forget them,” Meyer told me this week, adding he didn’t want today’s service members to be ostracized like many Vietnam-era veterans were after they returned home.

In the last decade, Southeast has added ways to recognize and assist returning veterans. At commencement, veterans receive a cord and sash to designate military service. They are acknowledged during the ceremony. And a new department, Office of Military and Veterans Services, was added to help navigate the complexities of financial aid in addition to the GI Bill benefits.

At the same time, Meyer started talking about a physical presence on campus to honor all veterans. Before his regent service ended in 2018, Meyer again talked with the board about the project. Today, with more than $100,000 privately raised to support the project and no university funds used other than land and time, the Veterans Plaza is complete. A dedication is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sept. 25, Family Weekend at Southeast, that many Southeast veteran alumni are expected to attend.

Tom Meyer poses for a portrait Thursday, June 25, 2020, at the recently-built Veterans Plaza on the Southeast Missouri State University campus in Cape Girardeau. BEN MATTHEWS ~ bmatthews@semissourian.com

The plaza includes pavers with the names of veterans or families of veterans. There is a large stone with a plaque along with the U.S., Missouri and MIA/POW flags. At the September dedication, flags representing all six branches of the military will be posted for the first time, Trudy Lee, vice president for university advancement and executive director of the University Foundation, told me.

Meyer said Dobbins and current-Southeast president Dr. Carlos Vargas have championed this project. Dobbins was a commissioned officer and civilian executive in the U.S. Air Force. Vargas’s son serves in the Marine Corps. The president’s wife, Pam Vargas, also has a connection to the military, with her father having served in the Navy during World War II.

The university’s connection to veterans is longstanding. Meyer said there have been professors and students at Southeast who served in most major U.S. military events. As of fall 2019, 226 veterans were enrolled at Southeast.

“We had, without any real documentation, but the assumption is, we would have had Civil War veterans or Civil War veterans that were professors or teachers at the university,” Meyer said. “So it could very well have started at that point of history. And each major event, you know, your Spanish American War, your World War II, Europe, Korea, Vietnam, all your skirmishes. We’ve always had on campus some returning veterans.”

Dr. Charlie Wiles, a retired Southeast professor, told me at least part of the university’s connection to veterans is due to Dr. Mark Scully, the 10th president of Southeast.

Engraved dedications and messages are seen in the bricks composing Veterans Plaza on Thursday, June 25, 2020, in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS ~ bmatthews@semissourian.com

Scully was known for his conservative pragmatism, and that extended to keeping tuition and fees low for students — sometimes to the ire of other colleges in the state, Wiles said.

With the Vietnam War winding down in the early ’70s and Southeast preparing for its centennial anniversary on 1973, Scully hired Wiles as the director of field services.

“That meant you went out to high schools and, you know, dealt with guidance counselors and that sort of thing,” Wiles said. “And a few years later, it was changed to public services.”

Scully wanted Wiles to implement a public service campaign, letting returning veterans know about Southeast’s low tuition. At the time the university had about 200 veterans on campus, Wiles said.

Wiles said after a two-year campaign that totaled about $100,000, enrollment of veterans at Southeast topped 1,000 students. Not only were advertisements being placed in the military newspapers, but there was marketing to non-military students about the low cost of education in Cape Girardeau. Wiles said even though some of this wasn’t geared toward veterans, it likely contributed to the recruitment of service members.

Ann Hayes, director of university communications at Southeast, said a book on the history of the university by Art Mattingly reports that in 1972 SEMO was designated one of 10 colleges and universities in the United States to have an Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program.

Hayes said there are seven endowed scholarships at the university for military members, and the Student Veterans Organization voted to start a scholarship for Southeast veterans. The organization hopes to award its first scholarship in spring 2021.

As we approach Independence Day, it’s encouraging to hear stories of how veterans have been embraced by Southeast Missouri State University. Hopefully that continues for years to come. The new Veterans’ Plaza is a moving tribute. Kudos to Tom Meyer, university leadership and the many donors who supported the project. It’s the perfect reminder of the sacrifice our military members make in preserving freedom.

Lucas Presson is assistant publisher of the Southeast Missourian.