The Office of Military-Affiliated Students has found a new home: 12-foot tall ceilings, sweeping windows, lounge areas and a caffeine-stocked kitchenette all accented with design elements paying homage to Brown’s history of student veterans.
The office’s previous location in Vartan Gregorian Quadrangle could only accommodate a small handful of students. The new office space coincides with a growing number of student veterans — the result of a University-wide push to increase enrollment of student veterans on campus.
“We found a very unique space within Alumnae Hall,” said OMAS Director Mac Manning in an interview with The Herald. “We also put a lot of resources to make it very personalized which is really cool, so it’s going to function very appropriately for our needs at this point in time.”
Since Brown’s 2019 initiative to increase military-affiliated student enrollment, the population of student veterans and ROTC students has tripled to 58 and 59, respectively.
In an email to The Herald, University spokesperson Brian Clark shared that “in 2019, we formalized an effort to double the number of student veterans on campus,” which the University achieved in 2023. The University also met its fundraising goal to provide full scholarships to undergraduate student veterans.
“So the problem, which is a good problem to have, was we were vastly outgrowing our space,” said Manning.
The posters decorating the room were sourced by Curator of Campus Collections Nicole Wholean from the Brown Digital Repository. “I decided to incorporate a variety of historical images of Battalions at Brown, and ephemera relating to the military,” Wholean wrote in an email to The Herald. “My selection was based upon availability, aesthetics and diversity of subject matter.”
The new office offers not only more square footage but a number of facilities. A large conference table sits at the center of the main room — one of three — and jugs of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee line the adjacent counter. Both Manning and OMAS Program Coordinator Becky Scheusner have their personal offices in the space.
Jared Yee ’27, co-vice president of the Student Veterans Society who served for four years in the Marine Corps, admitted that he never used the old office space but is excited that his group will finally be able to hold club meetings in this new location.
Ellison Mucharsky ’26, an Army ROTC student and vice president of Military Women @ Brown, also hopes to use the space for her club. She said that the office serves as a bridge for military-affiliated student groups “where ROTC students can really meet the veteran students on a more personal level.”
Incoming student veterans aren’t required to live on campus like most first-year students are, so Manning envisioned the office to be a “landing spot” to forge the shared-space community environment students choosing to live off campus might be missing out on.
Ichiro Tomaszewski ’28 left the military in November of 2023 knowing he wanted to continue his education while he was young and there wasn’t much of an “age gap” between him and his peers. But for Yee, the thought of attending a school like Brown never seemed attainable.
“I had my eyes set on furthering my education, but I always thought I'd go back home to Texas, to a state university,” he said. Yee took classes at community college while in the military, which boosted his confidence to look into schools of a “higher caliber.” When he stumbled upon Brown, his immediate reaction was: “I need to go here.”
Terren Wise ’26 was rejected by Brown — and all 11 other schools he applied to — after his first application round. Like Yee, he also decided to attend community college to build up his academic transcript, and the second time was the charm. Since then, he noted that Brown’s open curriculum has allowed him to expand his self-definition beyond strictly a “military member,” redefining himself as he explores different classes.
As an ROTC student, Mucharsky’s journey looked a little different. “My cousin went to the Air Force Academy,” she said, explaining how that first made her consider joining the military. Mucharsky initially applied to West Point Military Academy, and, during her last interview for the school, was informed by the interviewer about the ROTC program.
“I applied very last minute,” Mucharsky said. “I think it was the day before the last board for the ROTC scholarship. And then I got into Brown, which I never in a million years thought would happen.”
Wise noted that the existing veteran community at Brown shaped his perspectives during his transition to Brown. “Because that community was so small and tight-knit, we were able to look out for one another pretty well,” said Wise.
Being a military-affiliated student at Brown has looked very different throughout the years. During the Vietnam War, Brown phased out the ROTC program during the adoption of the New Curriculum — it was only reinstated eight years ago in 2016. But all four students feel that Brown has come a long way since then.
Clark emphasized that the veteran initiative has been a priority for multiple reasons: “To honor our veterans and future military officers for their service, sacrifices and courage in defending the freedoms we enjoy. And to strengthen the education of every student and community member at Brown who benefits from the unique perspectives that our military-affiliated students contribute while they are enrolled as students.”
While Wise admitted that some students at Brown “might have negative opinions and thoughts about the military in general,” he’s found that students are always open to dialogue.
“I think a lot of students, at least when I’m in uniform, if they do have hesitancies or questions about it, Brown is a place where you can really have a conversation,” Mucharsky said. She added that Brown students’ openness to new perspectives is “what's so special about Brown.”
Maya Nelson is a senior staff writer covering undergraduate student life. She’s interested in studying either English or Literary Arts and loves to read sci-fi and fantasy in her free time. She also enjoys playing guitar, crocheting and spending an unreasonable amount of time on NYT Spelling Bee.
Talia LeVine is a section editor covering arts and culture. They study Political Science and Visual Art with a focus on photography. In their free time, they can be found drinking copious amounts of coffee.
