Dennis May '18

Simpson College is proud of its welcoming and supportive community for the men and women who have defended our country through service in the military. And after two deployments to Iraq as part of the Marine Corps, Dennis May ’18 is finding his success at Simpson College.

Located a short five-minute drive from home, Simpson was perfectly placed for Dennis, who values spending time with his family. That doesn’t keep him from getting involved on campus outside of his biology and exercise science studies, however.

Dennis is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, a leadership fraternity on campus, as well as Tri-Beta, the biology honor society. He’s also the president of the Student Veterans of America chapter at Simpson College and a member of the pre-health society.

“Seeing a new student veteran organization take its first steps and the SGA investing a significant amount to help our organization take great strides in its early years,” he said. “I have been able to expand my network and been given opportunities to help develop a young organization.”

The opportunity to build an organization like this might have been lost at a bigger school, though, according to Dennis.

“Ability to engage with professors and peers was outstanding,” he said. “It is easy to get lost at an institution of 30,000 at SC many connections can be made and the time given to the success of students is far above expectations.”

Nobody is perfect, however, so Simpson is still working toward meeting veterans’ needs on campus. Through the Post 9/11 GI Bill® and Simpson’s financial aid, Dennis’ education has been 100% paid for, but other areas are still being improved thanks to help from students like him.

“We have a new Student Veteran Organization, a new veteran services coordinator and an administration that is listening,” he said. “Small changes have started and hopefully some bigger changes making Simpson veteran friendly are right around the corner.”

GI BILL® IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS (VA)