From Jennifer Trimmer, Veteran Student Services Director: “Brandon stepped up to be the Team Leader during the pandemic when our Team Leader at the time was called to Active Duty and finished out the year that was left. He brought new ideas to the table as we patiently waited for our campus to open back up this fall and he has successfully implemented a few of his ideas already. Our Peer Advisors have office hours every week in a reserved space in the center of campus. He helped in our expansion to offer the VA Work Study Program to our Peer Advisors. He connected with the Student Veterans Association Chapter for PAVE to join them for tailgates. Brandon has personally connected with corporate businesses for their interest in employing OU veterans and is looking to help SVA start a LinkedIn group. In addition to the PAVE Sooner Veteran Success course on Canvas, he shared ideas for and lead the fall orientation/cookout, and is working on a standard operations guide for the next Team Leader and Peer Advisors. When he is finished, they will have it to refer back to so it is faster to connect as a new team every year and they can be ready to mentor their assigned PAVE students sooner each semester.”

From Brandon Hovis: “After fighting through the initial year of COVID, my team came out strong this semester. We’ve reestablished a presence in the veteran community at OU by hosting a joint PAVE and SVA tailgate during home football games. In addition, we were able to secure a place on campus to conduct weekly office hours for the Peer Advisors. I think that having that in-person presence has been huge to get more of the response we want for PAVE. My favorite part about being a Team Leader is being able to connect with all these amazing veterans at OU. Each veteran has such a unique story. It is really fun to get to interact, engage, and build community with the veteran community at OU.”