Kiyomi Kishaba
Opinion Editor
“Do you know where the Mast name came from?”
I did not.
“It’s named after the mooring mast on McChord field.”
The mooring mast was a tall tower where airships locked into the top and transported people on and off the building. Pacific Lutheran University and the US military have harbored a relationship for many years, leading to the historical naming of the school newspaper.
“I imagine at some point you will change the name, which would be a shame because we will lose that history,” Michael Farnum said.
Farnum has been PLU’s Head of Military Outreach for almost six years. This Fall, he and Student Success advisor and Army veteran Eric Ritter debuted a brand new Student Veteran course called the “Student Veteran Leadership Academy.” This Pilot Program aims at helping veterans assimilate into college culture and reach academic success.
An Army veteran himself, Farnum focuses the class on identifying obstacles and showing the students how to overcome them. By discussing communication, writing, and reading across different areas of study, Farnum provides veterans with the tools necessary to excel at PLU.
Similar to the name of the Mast, Farnum holds deep ties to the military community at PLU. After dropping out of school in 10th grade and serving in the military for 23 years, he attended and graduated from PLU with a Bachelor of Environmental Studies and a minor in Geoscience in 2013. Farnum recently earned an MBA in May 2019.
During his time as an undergraduate, Farnum realized PLU had limited resources for veteran students. He wrote to PLU President Loren Anderson about an organization called Vet Corps, in which veterans in college help each other succeed.
As member of the Veteran Conservation Corps, which focuses on environmental conservation work, Farnum had experience in working in veteran communities. With his initiative, PLU began its chapter of the Vet Corps which Farnum ran for two years.
“I know what it feels like to be a poor student, to have no respect for academia and education, and what it feels like to regret those decisions” Farnum said. “I know most of the obstacles they [veteran students] are facing. And I can help them, because I’ve done it.”
For Farnum, the most rewarding part of his current job is working with veteran students one-on- one. His new Student Veteran Course is just the cusp of what he plans to do to help veterans. In the Spring, PLU will begin the Clemente Veterans Initiative for veterans who don’t benefit from the current Government Issue (GI) Bill.
“We are going to reach out to veterans who are marginalized or lacking in higher education, and we’re bringing them here,” Farnum said.
The Initiative is focused on the art and literature of the Peloponnesian, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan Wars and will be taught using the Socratic Method by Professors Kevin O’Brien and Mike Rings. The veterans will be asked to analyze artwork and literature and tie it back to their experiences in the service.
Farnum hopes to generate supportive discussion, and sees this as a way to both assist these veterans as they unpack their own experiences and create a possible bridge program between PLU and its surrounding community.
At the end of the day, Farnum hopes the courses will help veterans be more active in their communities and expand their own educational success. Through his personal experience, he connects with students and impacts their career as Lutes.
“I want them to achieve their goals and their dreams.”
