St. Thomas has been recognized as a Military Friendly School for the third straight year, moving up to a bronze level designation.

Out of 1,693 schools that participated in the 2020-21 survey, St. Thomas was among 695 to earn a Military Friendly designation.

“It’s thrilling,” said Norm Ferguson, director of Veteran Services.

The designation was awarded by Military Friendly, a subsidiary of the veteran-owned company VIQTORY, which measures schools’ and companies’ commitment to the military and veteran community.

Designations were evaluated using three sources of data: public sources, proprietary data from their own survey and personal data from surveys of veterans themselves.

Military Friendly sets a higher standard for schools who have already been ranked by using improved methodology, developed with both an independent research firm and Military Friendly Schools Advisory Council.

One of the methodology categories is the school’s culture and commitment. The Veteran Resource Center, which opened fall 2017, has played a key role for St. Thomas veteran students.

“I think the center itself has helped continue the designation,” senior Allison Kruse said. “Just having a place where we can come as a community and then go out and do our classes and be successful.”

Student Benjamin Schleiss said he values the Veteran Center because he feels he belongs there.

“It’s harder for someone my age with my kind of experience to try and relate to classmates,” Schleiss said. “When you come down here, it’s a bunch of mid-20 guys and girls who have all served. I can speak freely and (use) that sense of humor that most people don’t get.”

Many St. Thomas veteran students are commuters, Ferguson said, and the Veteran Center functions as a comfortable place for them.

“Honestly, if there wasn’t a center I probably would have missed more classes,” junior Jade Olson said. “I probably wouldn’t have wanted to hang out anywhere else at the school when I first got there.”

Another category evaluated is graduation and career outcomes.

“It’s a lot harder to graduate after coming out of the Marine Corps,” Olson said. “But the teachers are so friendly and that helps me as a veteran.”

Former St. Thomas student Nicolas Santarmes added to the value that St. Thomas’s teachers and class size have had on him.

“One of the coolest things about the school is the small class sizes,” Santarmes said. “You can get way more attention.”

St. Thomas offers a variety of other resources to veterans, such as planning community events with the Disabled American Veterans.

St. Thomas also works on bringing in members of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“Once a semester, we have representatives from the VA come to campus to meet with veterans to answer questions,” Ferguson said. “What we’re hoping is that would prevent students from having to miss class to go to the VA if we can bring the VA here.”

The resources offered are intended to make the veteran and military community feel “welcomed, safe and that they’re heard,” Ferguson said.

“I think the Military Friendly designation helps us a lot,” Ferguson said. “Knowing that when they come here, they are going to be supported.”

Burke Spizale can be reached at spiz8477@stthomas.edu.