Illinois Named a Purple Heart University
AHS E-News September 2021
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Robert Jones holds the proclamation of the University's status as a Purple Heart University. He is flanked by Dr. Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell, dean of the College of Applied Health Sciences, and Garret Anderson, outreach coordinator and student recruiter for the Chez Veterans Center.
The Military Order of the Purple Heart recognized the longstanding commitment of the University of Illinois to military veterans by designating it a Purple Heart University during an event in June at the Chez Veterans Center on campus.
Not only was the U of I the first university to call for compulsory military training at all land-grant colleges, but it also housed the first support program in higher education for veterans with disabilities. The Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services, founded in 1948 by Dr. Timothy Nugent, pioneered architectural accessibility standards, adapted sports programs, and many other innovations that helped World War II veterans with disabilities take advantage of the education benefits of the GI Bill.
“At a time when people in wheelchairs were not expected or encouraged to attend college and dream of careers, Dr. Nugent said, ‘Why not?’” said AHS Dean Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell. “Through his extraordinary efforts, the world gradually changed for people with disabilities.”
In 2015, the University opened the doors of the Chez Veterans Center to meet the educational, personal, social, and career-related needs of student veterans, military-connected students, and their families. The Center was built upon existing expertise and a longstanding commitment to knowledge creation through collaborative, interdisciplinary research, and serves veterans with and without disabilities, including traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.
"This university has a tradition unlike any other that goes far beyond just remembering those who lost their lives in service," Chancellor Robert Jones said. "This has been a place of world-changing ideas, innovations and, sometimes just plain old hard-headed determination to help those who come home to find success in their educational hopes and to lead lives and careers of impact after they earn their degree."
The Chancellor went on to recognize AHS as “the unwavering force pushing us forward to do more and to find new and better ways to open doors of access and success to the student-veterans.”
The event was well-attended and VIPs included Matt Janes from the office of Congressman Rodney Davis; State Senator Scott Bennett; State Senator Chapin Rose; State Representative Mike Marron; State Representative Brad Halbrook, Champaign Mayor Deborah Frank Feinen, members of the Chez Veterans Center advisory board, and members of the Veterans Assistance Commission and Department of Veterans Affairs.
"During my tenure as dean of the College of Applied Health Sciences, I have had many opportunities to feel proud of leading such an outstanding unit. Today, that pride deepens with this truly humbling recognition by the Military Order of the Purple Heart," said AHS Dean Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell. “It is an honor we will cherish.”