New director of Military and Veteran Resources Center named

Shane Scherer, ’11, was named the new director of the Peter Secchia Military and Veteran Resource Center. 

Scherer earned a master of public administration degree from Grand Valley after retiring from the Army.

“This is my dream job,” Scherer said. “Working with student veterans at my alma mater seems like a pretty cool job.”

Scherer said one of his goals is to get student veterans to branch out of their own community and participate in broader campus activities. He said experiencing campus life helped him at San Diego State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in political science.

“When I was an undergraduate, I was involved in Greek life,” he said. “That was a big part of my college experience and, because of that, I understand that we have all of these avenues available on campus.” 

The center is currently surveying student veterans and their families to learn more about them. Scherer said they also provide training for faculty, upon request, about the challenges student veterans face. More than 400 student veterans are enrolled this year, up slightly over last year's number.

Scherer was a student veteran himself after he was medically discharged from the Army. “September 11 happened and I wanted to go right into the military,” he said.

His family convinced him to finish college before deciding on a career. Scherer said he realized after graduating that he wanted to make the military a career. He planned to attend officer school after his first deployment, but 11 days before his deployment would end, his base in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan, was attacked.

He sustained severe head injuries and spent more than a year recovering. Scherer said he was disappointed about having to retire. That's when he and his wife decided to move to Michigan. 

While in his graduate program, Scherer said he got involved with the Military and Veteran Resource Center.

“They were the first ones who made me feel that I am a student veteran, and that was important to me,” said Scherer.

Samantha Drougel is a student writer for University Communications. Drougel is from Monroe and is a double major in film and video production, and journalism, broadcasting and digital media.