College wins award,
Army office still closed
College ranks No.4 In nation among two
year schools for helping vets
BY SAIGE KEIKKALA
Walking into the warm atmosphere
of the Clackamas Community College
community center, you can see the
doors for both the Arm y Strong
community center and the Veteran’ s
Service building that has been a source
of hope and relief for the people who
have given the most.
Veteran’s Service specifically helps
veterans in CCC with school. The Army
Strong facility is a charitable service
dedicated to veterans in general.
The Military Times, a major military
publication, printed a list of the best
two-year schools in the west for vets.
Clackamas Community College was
No. 4 in the nation. This Army Strong
was the first ASCC (Army Service
Component Command) opened west
of the Mississippi River. But right now,
the lights are off in the Army Strong’s
window and there’s no sign of life.
This office is currently closed to any
public hospitality. With Veterans Day
here, should the college community
expect this service to be up and
running?
Nicholas Hadley, a veteran and
student who works at the Veterans
Service, said, “ No. Not at all.”
Hadley explained that the Army
Strong Community Center is closed
due to change in management. The
new manager, William Burkhalter, will
be beginning his new job as a Family
Readiness and Support Coordinator on
Nov. 16. Burkhalter said the position
was coming up open.
“ I was invited to apply, and I did,”
said Burkhalter. He has taken over
after Annie Crawford, the previous
coordinator, who left for another
job. Burkhalter said that there were
no negative feelings that caused
Crawford to leave. In an interview, he
said she was very excited for her new
position, but sad to leave Army Strong.
The facility has the flexibility to be
closed, Hadley said. “ It’ s a service.
It’s not something that is expected
that the school has to have. It’s more
charity. It’s something we’re lucky to
have. People shouldn’t be mad that
it’s not open.
“ It’ s a service provided through
multiple other military services to
help vets and fam ilies transition
though civil life,” said Hadley. “ For
example, help with taking care of bills.
If someone has an electricity or water
bill due they can’t afford, they have
services, they can contact to give them
grants or donations to help them out.”
“ They aren ’ t sp ecifically from
school,” Hadley explained. “ So it’s ran
through [anonymous] organizations.”
He further mentions there are a bunch
of different connections through
Portland and Oregon to help.
Army Strong has been a helping
hand for the vets in our college. Maybe
that’s why CCC has received No. 4 in
the nation for best school to aid vets.
“ Today, we had great news,” said
Lori Hall in an interview. She was
referring to the publication about
CCC’ s shining ranking from the
“ Military Times.”
“ That’s the big news for us today,
and is just in time for Veterans Day/’
said Hall.
A poll was published recently about
which tw o-year colleges were top
picks for veterans in 2016. W hen
asked about how this came about,
Hall said, “ You have to fill out a
126 questions survey. They use that
and they use your rankings within
financial aid and all the services that
the colleges provide.
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