The University of Wisconsin-Madison is honored to have student veteran Leah Henning represent UW for the National Veterans Leadership Foundation (NVLF) Fellows program.
The NVLF is an organization that partners with universities across America to recognize and support student veterans. The fellowship program selects outstanding military-connected students from sixteen different universities to represent their schools in a leadership conference over six months. The fellows meet monthly with mentors over Zoom and talk about how to be better leaders on their campuses. The program will culminate in a several day conference in Columbus, Ohio, where the fellows will meet for intensive discussions on leadership.
“My favorite part is just reflecting on my own leadership style, like, hey, what can I do better?” Henning said. “And what can I do to better serve veterans on campus?”
Henning says the goal of the program is to enhance connections with other veterans and build better leaders. The leaders coming out of the program will learn how to help connect veterans with resources and to help student veterans feel less alone on campuses.
“It’s neat to be recognized for my leadership, but also having the opportunity to grow my leadership,” Henning said.
“I’ve been very impressed with Leah and her commitment to her fellow service members,” says Joe Rasmussen, University Veteran Services Director. “Leah came into a leadership role soon after enrolling at UW. She has used her military service to guide her in supporting fellow veterans by joining Student Veterans of America (SVA), participating in programs and events, and even by joining the reserves and taking an opportunity to serve again. “
When Henning graduated high school in 2015, she joined the U.S. Marine Corps on active duty. She was stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina as an Artillery Sensor Supportman. During her time in the Marines, Henning reached the rank of Sergeant.
Henning first came to UW in 2019 after her time on activity duty. Later, she joined the Marine Corps Reserves in 2020, where she worked in Civil Affairs before being deployed in Okinawa, Japan in 2021 for nine months.
“When I was asked if I wanted to go to Okinawa, I didn’t hesitate. My grandpa was stationed in Okinawa and I wanted the opportunity to see where he served.”
Henning returned to being a student at UW in 2022 after returning from Japan. She’s finishing a health promotion and health equity program in May and starting the accelerated nursing program, to graduate in May 2024. Her favorite place to study is the SVA space in the Student Activities Center, as well as outside at Memorial Union.
During NVLF, Henning had the opportunity to speak with other fellows about what resources their campuses offer. What she noticed was that there are more resources UW should work toward offering for student veterans.
UW’s University Veteran Services (UVS) offers community, resources, benefits, and more for veterans on campus. They are dedicated to making sure military-connected students can succeed, and serve veterans, active service members, and children of active service members and veterans.
Still, Henning thinks UW has a long way to go to keep up with other NVLF schools. One thing she highlighted that UW lacks is a permanent space for student veterans. The SVA is not a permanent location for veterans, and Henning says veterans need a dedicated space.
“There should be a place on campus where veterans, military members, ROTC kids can always come,” Henning said. “It shouldn’t have to be a place that you have to apply for every year. It shouldn’t be a place that’s contested for. It should be this dedicated space to veterans.”
Henning says she is pushing for increased efforts to help direct people to the right resources for them, getting the word out about current spaces on campus for student veterans, and establishing a permanent space.
“That’s a pretty big project we’re undertaking,” Henning said. “So I think we’re doing the best with what we have right now. But we can do better.”