Local College Hosts Month-Long Veterans Celebration

Prairie State College will be hosting a Veterans Celebration throughout the month of November. Most events will be held on the college’s main campus and all events are open to the public. Photo Credit: Provided by Prairie State College
Prairie State College will be hosting a Veterans Celebration throughout the month of November. Most events will be held on the college’s main campus and all events are open to the public. Photo Credit: Provided by Prairie State College

Local College Hosts Month-Long Veterans Celebration

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

Throughout the month of November, the Student Veterans Center at Prairie State College will be celebrating veterans with various activities that will honor all of those who have served in the military. Most events will be held on the college’s main campus, 202 S. Halsted St. in Chicago Heights, and all events are open to the public.

“We are bringing awareness to the school and the area and showing people that there are servicemen out here and that there are a lot of soldiers that are continuing to come back home and they are not coming back home the same way they left. They are coming back to Chicago Height, Ford Heights, Homewood, and our other surrounding communities and we need to keep that in mind,” said Georges Sanon, Student Veterans Center coordinator at Prairie State College.

As a veteran himself, Sanon has a great understanding of the support that is needed when a person returns home from military service. For that reason, he works hard to make sure that all veterans are supported throughout the year at Prairie State College.

Through the Student Veterans Center, student-veterans are eligible for early registration, in-district tuition rates, and one-on-one assistance navigating college life.

These services extend to all service members, regardless of when they served or whether it was active, reserve, or National Guard component. PSC offers assistance to new students, returning students, or those who are deployed on active duty, so veterans can achieve their academic goals. The Student Veterans Center also serves

as a safe space to study and socialize with other veterans and source information on veteran’s services at the school and in the community, according to a press release announcing the Veterans Celebration.

“It helps that I’m a veteran too and I think that’s why I’m initiating some of this and I’m humbled by the support that we’ve been able to have,” said Sanon.

The month’s celebration kicked off with a Missing Man Table ceremony, a Veteran’s Day Celebration, and a Vietnam War Commemorative Ceremony.

“I always look forward to the Vietnam Commemorative. I’m an Iraqi veteran and when I got back in 2003 there was Pomp and Circumstance at the airport and it just seemed fitting that we should extend that opportunity to the Vietnam Vets,” said Sanon.

The next upcoming event is a Veterans Night celebration at the Prairie State College Pioneers’ basketball game at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 21 in the Prairie State College Fieldhouse, located on the college’s north campus.

The month’s events will close with the retirement of the Missing Man Table at 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 22 in the Atrium.

For more information on the Veteran’s Day celebrations being held on campus or for information about the services Prairie State College offers to veterans, contact Georges Sanon, the student veterans center coordinator at (708) 709-3567 or gsanon@ prairiestate.edu.

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