DSU Veterans & Military Families Month: Week of Events, Nov. 10–14, 2025

Honoring Their Service, Standing Beside Their Families

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Every day, headlines remind us that our military community—service members, veterans, and their families—may be called upon at a moment’s notice. They stand ready. They serve with courage because of an oath they took, an oath they take seriously, one that doesn’t expire when conditions get tough or when paychecks are delayed. Their resilience, loyalty, and quiet bravery are a testament to what it means to serve something greater than oneself.

But in every uniform stands a person. And behind many of those uniforms is a family that serves too.

Military families are the backbone of this commitment. They hold down households during deployments, raise children through missed holidays, quietly carry worry, and still show up to serve their communities. They sacrifice careers, stability, and sometimes the comfort of certainty. Some have endured the greatest loss of all in the name of service to our nation. And like any American, some servicemembers and veterans fall on hard times, face food insecurity, or simply need a hand to steady them.

The military community lives by a creed often shared among branches—leave no one behind. That’s not just a slogan. It’s a way of life. If someone falls, they lift them. If someone struggles, they link arms. If someone sacrifices for others, they are never forgotten. And if that is the heart of their service, then the least we can do as neighbors, as citizens, as a university family is to honor that same commitment: to notice, to support, and to give thanks.

This season of gratitude gives us the perfect moment to pause and do just that.

How DSU Is Showing Appreciation

Throughout November 2025, Delaware State University proudly celebrates Veterans & Military Families Appreciation Month with a full week of events designed to honor, uplift, and connect with those who serve and those who love them:

• Hornets Salute: A Military & Veteran Mixer
  A welcoming evening of connection, conversation, and celebration among DSU’s military community, veterans, dependents, and supporters.
• Flag Raising Ceremony: Moment of Honor & Reflection
  A time to pause, reflect, and recognize the service and sacrifice of those who wear and have worn the uniform.
• Messages from the Hive: Letter-Writing Campaign
  Students, faculty, and staff come together to write handwritten notes of encouragement and gratitude to deployed service members and local veterans.
• Leadership in Action Panel & “Thank You for Your Service” Brunch
  A powerful discussion featuring military leaders sharing lessons from service, followed by a brunch to sincerely say thank you.
• Warm Steps for Vets: Sock Drive for Homeless Veterans
  Collecting new socks throughout campus to support our unhoused veterans, because dignity often begins with meeting a simple need.

Continuing Traditions of Appreciation

In addition to this week’s events, DSU is renewing Wear RED Fridays!
Each Friday in November, we invite the Hornet community to wear red to “Remember Everyone Deployed.” It is a simple, visible way to show solidarity with those serving away from home and the families who hold things together while they’re gone.

These events are hosted by the DSU Military & Veterans Team, but they belong to the entire Hornet community.

What Can the Rest of Us Do?

Honoring service doesn’t always require a stage or a ceremony. Sometimes, it looks like:

• Buying a cup of coffee for a service member or veteran. Offering mentorship. Listening to their stories.
• Donating socks, winter gear, or a grocery gift card to someone in need.
• Supporting military spouses and student parents juggling work, school, childcare and family.
• Hiring a veteran. Recognize that veterans bring leadership, discipline, problem-solving skills, and an unmatched work ethic to any organization.
• Supporting veteran-focused legislation. Contact your representatives to advocate for policies that provide veterans with healthcare, housing, education, and employment opportunities they’ve earned.
• Simply saying, “Thank you for your service and your sacrifice. I see you.”

Big or small, every act of appreciation matters. Because gratitude is more than a word. It’s a responsibility.

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On behalf of the DSU Military & Veterans Team, we invite you to stand with us this November. Let’s honor those who raised their right hand, stood the watch, carried the weight, and loved this country enough to protect it. Let’s also honor their families, whose strength and sacrifice make every mission possible.

This month, and every month, may we be the kind of community that never leaves anyone behind.

Lolita Treadwell
Director for DSU Dover AFB (DAFB)
Veteran, US Army

Devon Wilson
Office of Veteran Affairs
Veteran, US Army

Amy Kellen
Military & Transfer Coordinator
Military and Veteran Advocate