The Veteran’s Academic Resource Center is showcasing women veterans during Women’s History Month through April 10. With donated items and the assistance of VARC peer mentors, the center is showcasing notable women veterans in history, influential modern veterans and UCF faculty, staff and student women veterans. On display, are photos of these women and their stories: the first women to serve in the military, women lying about their gender to serve their country, POW’s and astronauts, to our very own military women at UCF.

Also on display are a U.S. Navy women’s dress blue uniform (Tracy Lovingood), and Army women’s combat uniform (Mary Mitchell), Challenge Coins from the Navy and the Marines, T-shirts worn by Marine women, and a “Cruise Book” from a Navy deployment to the Persian Gulf.

Attending the March 10 reveal of the Women Veterans Display, the center had seven women who attended that are presently staff and faculty at UCF and three student veterans whose photos and info was loaned to us by the Veterans History Project. They are:

UCF Student Veterans

  • Quynh-anh Martin – Veterans Academic Resource Center, SDES
  • Diane Santos – Veterans Academic Resource Center, SDES
  • Tracy Lovingood – Veterans Academic Resource Center, SDES

    • UCF Faculty and Staff Veterans

  • Maria-Elena Augustin – College of Health and Public Affairs
  • Gwen Ransom – Academic Program Quality
  • Lavera Henderson – College of Health and Public Affairs
  • Karen Yerkes – Student Health Services
  • Toni Rooney – College of Health and Public Affairs
  • Sharon Ekern – Associate Vice President of Administration and Student Life, SDES

    • Student veteran Mary Mitchell stated about her time in the service, “I wouldn’t trade my time in the Army for anything in the world. It gave me the opportunity to meet many different people and experience different things. It gave me a chance to grow up and mature and to care for someone other than myself.”

    The Veteran’s Academic Resource Center is located at CFE Arena Suite 100.

    Photos of display