Providing community for TU’s veterans

By Kyle Hobstetter on August 3, 2021

When she started at Towson University in 2017 as a student, Dena Allen-Few ’19 didn’t want to talk about her Army service. In fact, she says she didn’t like admitting to being a veteran.

But like many veterans who use their Veterans Affairs education benefits, she had to get help with the paperwork through TU’s Military & Veterans Center (MVC).

When she stopped at the MVC office inside the Psychology Building, she felt like she found her place on campus.

“It was like walking into the barracks again but in a really good way,” Allen-Few says. “The conversations were conversations that I hadn't had in over a decade. It was a really interesting a place that was smack dab in the middle of campus that I could get back and forth to my classes easily.

“But then also there was a sense of camaraderie within the MVC, and that dragged me in as a student.”

Once she became a regular, she wanted to help her fellow veterans. While studying for a degree in business administration, Allen-Few joined the MVC staff as a program management specialist after the staff member who was handling student veteran education benefits retired.

It was a pivotal time for the MVC. Members of the leadership team wanted to make the office a one-stop shop for its student veterans: Instead of walking paperwork to different parts of campus, they could handle it all in the MVC office.

Thanks in large part to the MVC and the institution-wide priority around inclusion, TU ranks among the top 1 percent nationally among universities for veterans. 

As a program management specialist, Allen-Few helps TU’s military and veteran student population transition from the military lifestyle to civilian life. She says that means helping students through personal and educational issues and serving as a de facto counselor and academic adviser.

“When I started my undergrad here at TU, there was absolutely no way I thought that I’d be helping veterans with their education benefits,” Allen-Few says. “It was kismet how things managed to come together, but I love it. Working at the MVC is so incredibly rewarding for me.”

She is also working on a graduate degree in public policy at the University of Baltimore.

Through her work at the MVC, she is also part of the Maryland College Collaboration for Student Veterans Commission where she has served as interim chair since June. The commission has representatives from 23 Maryland universities who were nominated by their university presidents. Created in 2016, the commission holds quarterly meetings where they discuss changes in the Veterans Affairs department and how they will affect the state’s veteran college students.

On Aug. 5, Towson University will host the commission’s third-quarter meeting, the first held on campus. The event, which will feature special remarks from TU’s Vice President of Student Affairs Vernon Hurte, lets Allen-Few show off not only TU’s gorgeous campus but also a firsthand look at the work TU does for its veterans.

“We were one of the first higher education institutions that offered a dedicated veterans center on campus,” Allen-Few says. “It’s going to be fantastic to show off that space and show we’re a very military-friendly community with a gorgeous campus.”

As Towson University prepares for students to return in the fall, Allen-Few is excited for the office to be filled with those veteran-led conversations that initially attracted her to the MVC.

She’s hoping veteran students who haven’t experienced a full MVC will visit and, like her, find a community within the larger TU community.

“You have to turn your paperwork in to me anyways, so stop by and give us one try,” Allen-Few laughs. “It always happens. They come in to return their paperwork to me, and they hear those military conversations they aren’t used to hearing on campus, and they are hooked.

“This could be a really great resource for our veterans, but they have to walk through that threshold. Just walk in, and we’ll take care of you.”