LEWISTON, Idaho – Lewis-Clark State College expanded its commitment to providing exceptional service for military veterans this summer with the addition of a new position, coordinator of Veterans’ Services, under the office of Student Affairs.
Stephen Tamm, who served in the Marines for four years, began as the coordinator of Veterans’ Services on July 31. Tamm will focus on engaging the veterans’ student population on the LCSC campus, in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley, and with former veterans who have earned their degrees.
LCSC currently serves approximately 100 veterans on campus, Tamm says. An exact number is hard to pin down because some students don’t claim they are a military veteran on their application form, although they qualify as a veteran.
Tamm says he looks forward to continue to work with veterans. He graduated in 2012 from West Texas A&M in Canyon, Texas, where he helped form the West Texas A&M Veterans’ Network. He helped mentor veterans to make a transition smoother to college and to the community.
“Veterans are a diverse group,” Tamm says. “You have some that come to college immediately after serving a length of time in the military, some that come after taking some time off after serving, and some come with families. You have basically traditional age and non-tradition age veterans who have different needs. So I’m here to help them succeed.”
Tamm says he wants to establish a support group on campus that has both veterans who are upper level students and LCSC alums to help the newer veteran students. At the same time, he also wants this support system to help veterans who are near graduation.
“I want to give veteran students the support they need and help contribute to their overall college experience,” Tamm says. “The door will be open for them to provide ideas and suggestions to help with their college experience.”
Tamm says he also is happy to meet with any veteran who is considering either starting or returning to college, and helping them explore education benefits which apply to veterans.
Tamm’s office will be located in room 212 of Reid Centennial Hall. The office shares a space with the Native American and Minority Student Services area, which has now been renamed Native American, Minority and Veterans’ Student Services.
Tamm served in the Marines during 2003-07 and did two deployments in Iraq. He then attended West Texas A&M where he graduated and found a job in the beef industry. He left that job to attend graduate school at the University of Idaho in molecular physiology and he also worked at EMSI in Moscow. He says he is close to defending his thesis to earn his master’s degree.
For more information on Veterans’ Services at LCSC, contact Tamm at either [email protected] or call 208-792-2473.