Michigan State University is this month’s Featured Campus! “Michigan State University is off to a great start this term. They have recruited three new Peer Advisors, held a team meeting, and hosted a welcome back picnic. In addition to that, their Team Leader, Casey Mossholder, created a PAVE newsletter that went out to all the student veterans. MSU also does a nice job of using the D2L platform as a central hub for sharing information about PAVE,” says PAVE Program Manager Kali Lake.

MSU is embarking on its sixth year operating PAVE, but their three Peer Advisors and Team Leader are all brand new to their roles. “We’re building a community from scratch,” says Casey. “I’ve been really impressed by the amount of stuff this team has put together in terms of programming. It’s exciting to see a new team come in with all these great ideas,” says Veteran Services Coordinator Patrick Forystek. 

Casey and the team are working on building a strong community at MSU where student veterans feel connected not just to one another, but also to the greater campus community. A couple of ways they are doing this is by hosting a book club and bringing in a clinical psychologist who’s also an Air Force veteran to facilitate a mental health workshop, activities that are open to all students, not just veterans. 

Casey explains that she’s looking for ways for their PAVE team to offer programming that make it so that “it’s not just about coming to college and getting a degree, it’s allowing them to have an extra experience, kind of like how the military brings people together and you have that sense of community within that group.” 

“I wish that I had something like PAVE when I was in my undergrad. I remember what it feels like to be kind of lost,” says Peer Advisor Annie Taylor. She describes how she wanted to be a Peer Advisor, “so that I can give people that understanding that they know, ‘you are not alone.’ I just want to give them that comfort—you’re not alone.” 

Job well done MSU, keep up the great work!