Veterans embrace Concordia for Values and Size

Concordia welcomed a record number of veterans and veteran-related students to campus this fall as former service-members seek an education grounded in faith and a greater purpose while training for their new careers.

“Concordia offers something unique in the education marketplace,” says Richard Lewis, a former paratrooper and combat cameraman who now serves as the director of Concordia’s SSG Matthew Thompson Veterans Resource Center. “Our idea of serving God by serving your neighbor through your vocations is very attractive and very healing for veterans. We all went through high-stress situations where the only thing that gave us purpose was serving the people around us.”

In recent years, Concordia has enrolled four or five veterans as new undergraduate students each year. This year, that doubled to nine, and the number of graduate students in Concordia programs who are veterans stands closer to 50. There are also 16 military dependents, many of them using their parents’ Veterans Administration benefits to attend college.

“The surge is because of our great undergraduate admissions team and external factors which include the U.S. leaving Afghanistan and a bump in people leaving the military,” says Lewis.

Nicholas Piazza, 35, of Laguna Hills enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2009, because, “I felt it was my duty to serve my country,” he says.

In Afghanistan he was part of a heavy weapons company and a quick reaction force, evacuating dead and wounded from casualty events usually caused by improvised explosive devices or grenades. He was promoted quickly but suffered from survivor’s guilt when a friend was killed by a rocket- propelled grenade. His unit lost 21 soldiers in 13 months, and Piazza spent several years haunted by his experience, his life spiraling out of control for a time. In 2022, he got back on track to earn his degree, flourished for two years at a community college, then enrolled at Concordia.

“Concordia was my dream university because of the Christian values it has,” he says, noting he grew up in a committed Christian family but fell away. “Concordia has given me the opportunity to re-establish those roots and, with Core classes, to take an in-depth look at my own beliefs and what it means to be a Christian.”

He is studying psychology with the goal of earning a PhD in neuropsychology. While a student he also works at the Veterans Resource Center as the lead career coordinator, helping other veterans navigate their academic careers.

“I love how welcoming Concordia is, especially being my age, which was one of my concerns,” Piazza says. “The student body made me feel at home very quickly. I love the vets that are here. I’m as involved as I can be.”

Most of the twenty undergraduate veterans at Concordia are former Marines and most are men, with two women in the group. All branches of the military are represented at present except the Air Force. The youngest veteran student is 22 and just finishing his four-year contract with the Marines. Most served in Iraq and/or Afghanistan, and many are studying for careers in medicine, psychology, or business.

Anthony Arata, 40, joined the Navy in 2018, leaving a career as an EMT in the San Francisco Bay Area. After being frequently deployed on an aircraft carrier and serving five years at Point Mugu, he, his wife, and two children moved to Orange County so he could attend Concordia.

“I had wanted to go to school for a while,” Arata says. “What drove me to Concordia was the smaller class sizes. I heard from Richard about how teachers are more involved and care more. I liked that Concordia was tucked away, quiet and peaceful.”

He, too, wanted to attend a Christian university but wondered if going back to school at age 40 would be awkward and if fellow students would ask, “Why is this guy here?” But, “I haven’t noticed that at all,” says Arata. “I connected with the people. I’ve had really good conversations with teachers outside of class. If you have a teacher who’s passionate about what they’re teaching, I find that conducive to learning. It makes it exciting to go to class.”

Arata is pursuing his bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in pre-nursing and aiming to become an emergency room nurse. He says Lewis and the Veterans Resource Center have been “super-helpful.”

“I don’t know anything about VA benefits so Richard has been there for me,” he says. “The guys at the VRC are really cool. We bond over our work ethic and our life experiences.”

While having to do homework again has been “a culture shock,” Arata says he is better prepared for college now than when he was younger. “I realize that at 18 I was not ready for college,” he says. “Now I’m here to do what I need to do and get my work done. I’ve really learned a lot and enjoyed the Concordia experience. The people and teachers are really cool and seem to genuinely care about students.”

Concordia’s Veterans Resource Center is purposefully set up like a USO, offering free coffee, free printing, commuter lockers, and an entertainment area with a television and PS4 console with headsets. Veterans can access it with a 24-hour key-code.

“It’s a fun place to hang out,” says Lewis. “It shows them that the school really supports veterans and that they are 100 percent welcome here. I get a lot of compliments about this place.”

Veterans receive full education benefits after serving three years in the military, or if they are dependents of service- member parents who served for at least 10 years. Benefits include free tuition, a housing allowance, and a stipend to buy books.

Lewis is grateful for the growing number of veterans on campus and confident the trend will continue.