On Thursday, Feb. 24 the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough paid a visit to the University of Utah campus in order to meet with student veterans. The goal of this press conference was to provide the veterans with a pipeline to Washington, D.C. The secretary listened to student concerns and suggestions about how veteran affairs should be handled.

Topics discussed at the event include mental health, the pandemic, using resources available to veterans, support for veterans in higher education and homelessness. 

Chase Nelson is a veteran who attended the round table discussion. He served as an HM2 in the U.S. Navy. While he did not personally voice any concerns at the discussion, he noted common issues that the students voiced.

“There’s a lot of veterans out there that are struggling with mental health,” Nelson said. “So that was a big thing, you know … mental health concerns and what it’s like to get an appointment with the VA.”

He also mentioned that the rising cost of living is negatively affecting veterans, and that concerns them. Nelson said the discussion was a positive event.

“I wish I could thank the Secretary personally,” Nelson said. “I just think it was a really enlightening experience.”

Some have criticized Biden for straying from tradition and selecting a person who is not a veteran for this position.

McDonough may not be a veteran, but he is not letting that stop him from serving the veterans of his country. He wants his performance to do the talking. In his first weeks as secretary, McDonough met with former secretaries and veterans to hear about their most pertinent issues and views on the state of veterans affairs.

“I figure my job every day is to wake up and be the country’s premier advocate on behalf of veterans,” McDonough said. “So to be honest with you, the fact that I’m not a veteran, makes me work that much harder to prove to veterans that I deserve the job. But at the end of the day, that’s somebody else’s determination as to whether it’s impacting me negatively or not.”

He served under former President Obama as the White House chief of staff, and was later nominated by President Joe Biden to lead the Veterans Affairs department.

“The main thing I say to [veterans] is one, thank you and two, we work for you,” McDonough said.

The Veterans Support Center has resources for veterans at the U, from tuition help to career development and scholarships.

As Secretary of U.S. Veterans Affairs, McDonough has several key initiatives he is working on. 

“The first thing is getting veterans and their families through this pandemic — that’s the most important thing right now for me,” he said. “Second, we’re very focused at the moment, especially with our student vets, and making sure that we have the resources that they need to succeed here in school. So we’re going to continue to make those investments. And as I said today, that’s an investment in the national interest because each of these events end up doing great work on behalf of the country.”

His third focus is homelessness. By the end of 2021, McDonough promised to house 500 homeless veterans in Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles Times, of the 542 veterans from L.A. county who were housed, 221 transitioned to permanent supportive housing while 321 are in transitional or temporary housing or in a mental health rehabilitation facility.

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