Marking the 70th anniversary of the signing of the GI Bill, a Huffington Post op-ed by Stony Brook University President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., MD, has called for a renewed federal commitment to higher education assistance.
“The government demonstrated 70 years ago that it can face the education needs of young veterans,” Stanley writes. “Now it’s time for us to muster the can-do spirit of the original GI Bill and take meaningful action to alleviate the burden of student debt, not only for veterans, but for all our college graduates.”
The op-ed relates the story of Stanley’s father, an Iwo Jima veteran who rose to become an eminent anthropologist with the aid of the GI Bill.
“The GI Bill created eight million success stories, equipping veterans for professions they might never have contemplated without it — doctors, lawyers, business executives, to name a few,” Stanley writes.
The op-ed describes the crushing debt burden faced by many contemporary university students and calls for federal action to provide additional support.
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