September is national suicide prevention month. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention suicide claims more than 32,000 lives a year in the United States and is the number two cause...

The IU Southeast Student Veterans’ Organization placed second in the Indiana State Student Veterans Hall of Fame Competition on Oct. 27 at the NCAA Hall of Champions in downtown Indianapolis. Sponsored by the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University, this event allowed Indiana college campuses to showcase their achievements and give them a chance to compete against the top SVOs in the state. Shelley MacDermid, director of MFRI at Purdue University, described the purpose of the competition.

Last spring, Dale Brown, secondary education senior and president of the Student Alumni Association, and Matt Owen, political science senior, met to discuss new tradition ideas to implement for the 70th anniversary of IU Southeast. Brown, Owen and fellow members of the SAA came up with the tradition of burying a time capsule on campus. “We thought a time capsule would be a great tradition for the campus because it is a collaboration and a larger connectivity for the organizations and university departments,” Brown said. “It’s a great way for student alumni to look back and see the university from the past.”

For the third year in a row, IU Southeast will receive the Operation Diploma Grant – a grant that helps assist the university in its efforts to support student veterans and their families. The grant is a partnership between IU Southeast and Ivy Tech. The Operation Diploma Grant is made possible through Lilly Endowment, Inc. and is an initiative of the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University. Operation Diploma Grant seeks to educate Indiana institutions about the needs of student service members and veterans, engage them in promising practices related to serving the population and generate new knowledge in the process.

Veteran’s Day did not pass by unnoticed for many members of the IUS community. Two events were held in honor of U.S. veterans and to remind citizens of those who fought for the country. The third annual IUS Veteran’s Day memorial service was held at McCullough Plaza on Nov. 10. During the ringing of the bells, marking the end of the fighting during World War I, students, local veterans and members of the community circled the clock in remembrance of those who died fighting for the U.S.

Members of the Student Veterans Organization said they have an incredible asset in the form of ex-Marine, Richard Madley, geosciences junior. Madley suffered a head injury while training in the Marines, which left him disabled with severe headaches and potential seizures. “I’ve learned so much since I started school,” Madley said, ”but if I had a second chance I’d join right back up.”