Nick Bradford, who will graduate from Baylor with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 2027, was on active duty with the Army before enrolling at Baylor. Initially he didn’t plan to self-identify as a veteran, preferring instead to “keep my cards close to my chest,” but he’s grateful Veterans of Baylor (VoB) encouraged him to connect with the community it provides.
Married to his high school sweetheart with a one-year-old son, Bradford has a lot on his plate. Aside from his duties as vice president of VoB, he’s also a full-time student, has a full-time job as a software developer for Alpha Facility Solutions (a veteran-owned company based in San Antonio), and is in the reserves. As a drill sergeant for the 95th Training Division, he’s responsible for training, mentoring, and developing recruits into soldiers, but he’s also required to spend one weekend a month at a reserve center in Round Rock, and one 18-day cycle at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, each summer.
“It’s a lot to juggle,” he said of his constantly shifting priorities. “Everything is kind of reduced to which fire I have to put out first. Ideally my family and school should come first, but sometimes it’s my job or the reserves that demand my attention. It’s a constant push and pull.”
Still, he can’t imagine doing any of it without the support he receives from the student group Veterans of Baylor.
The Germanic term for “bear warrior” is berserker, a derivative of the Old Norse word berserkr, which describes the elite Viking warriors who fought in a furious rage, wearing bear pelts instead of armor. Loyal to Odin, they were thought to be shapeshifters who took on the animal’s ferocious spirit in battle. It’s fitting, perhaps, that the Veterans of Baylor find strength in their deeply engrained warrior-spirit — resiliency in the face of diversity — as well the identities they cultivate, centered on service, leadership, and community.
During high school in Northumberland, Virginia, where he grew up, Bradford was a volunteer EMT and firefighter.
“I was really invested in the idea of saving and preserving human life,” he said. “So, after graduation, I joined the Army as a medic.”
Admittedly, life is different for students like him after military service.
“I think the biggest difference is that most vets have real-life responsibilities. A lot of us are married. We have bills to pay and mouths to feed,” he said. “There’s a certain level of selfishness that you have to wrestle with while balancing your personal goals against the drawbacks to your household.”
VoB plays a vital role on campus for students who enroll at Baylor after military service. Unlike most incoming freshmen, veterans may have families to support, and many of them find it challenging to balance school work with responsibilities at home. Some may be dealing with PTSD, anxiety, depression, or even physical injuries sustained during military service. Others may feel isolated or unable to relate to younger classmates without their lived experience. What’s more, transitioning to college life after years in a structured military environment can seem overwhelming.
The VA reports of the nearly 3 million post-9/11 service members who have returned home, about a third of them are attending college using U.S. government benefits.
Researchers have found higher rates of health-risk behaviors, such as substance abuse, as well as psychological disorders like PTSD among student veterans than those without military experience. In a 2017 study published in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, Dr. Brian Borsari, a clinical psychologist at the San Francisco VA Health Care System, was struck by the number of veterans with significant PTSD symptoms who were trying to enroll in college. He was also “alarmed by the number who would drop out or do very poorly.”
The leadership skills Bradford acquired in the military have helped him interact with professors, but he points out that VoB has been instrumental in helping him and other vets use their leadership skills and experience in the classroom and community. Connecting Baylor’s student vets with other vets in the Waco area is a priority for VoB, which sponsors events designed to bring the two communities together to form authentic connections.
“In my opinion, the best type of networking isn’t forced,” Bradford said. “Some of our events have attracted Baylor vets who come from all over Central Texas.”
As vice president of VoB, Bradford meets with the president, staff advisor, and on occasion, the treasurer to lay out goals and create an action plan. He also makes a point of talking to other officers in non-executive positions.
“Our engagement officer crafts opportunities for veterans and their families,” he says, “but they also gather data on how many people attend and track the success of each event so we can improve existing engagement opportunities or come up with new ones.”
Each year VoB hosts a Veterans Day celebration called Battle of the Branches Flag Football Tournament.
“It’s our biggest event,” said Bradford, who estimates that nearly 500 veterans from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard participate. Held at Touchdown Alley, the competition fosters camaraderie and combats isolation among veterans, while offering a space for them to connect with their community.
Committed to addressing the challenges that student veterans face by providing fellowship opportunities, VoB hosts a Warrior Wednesday Lunch in the Veteran Educational and Transition Services Lounge each week. Student vets are invited to drop by to enjoy a free meal and connect with a featured guest speaker.
Those with families, jobs, VA appointments, and other demands on their time who find it hard to engage in person can connect virtually through a VoB GroupMe. Meanwhile, VoB’s Historian Chris Varner is busy collecting stories of student veterans at Baylor for a project with the National Archives.
Despite only being chartered in 2011, the organization was named 2024 Student Veterans of America (SVA) Chapter of the Year. Chosen from a field of 1,600 chapters nationwide, VoB was recognized for its “remarkable contributions in enhancing their campus community” at the Student Veterans of America (SVA) National Conference in Colorado Springs in January 2025.
VoB president Caroline Burten, a senior health science and studies major and U.S. Marine Corps veteran, accepted the award.
Each year new student veterans receive a challenge coin: a small, medallion-like token that symbolizes loyalty, belonging, and shared experience. The most popular origin story dates back to World War I when a wealthy American lieutenant had solid bronze medallions with his squadron’s insignia made for his unit as a symbol of unity and camaraderie. Some military historians trace the ritual as far back as the Roman Empire when soldiers were rewarded for exceptional service with special coins. Student veterans at Baylor are encouraged to give their coins to a member of the faculty or staff who has supported them during their academic journey. Then, in the spring, the individuals who have been singled out for their unwavering support are honored at a banquet.
Bradford is already thinking ahead. While he plans to pursue a career in law after graduation next year, he’s keeping his options open.
“With a law degree I could go back on active duty as an Army JAG officer, but I’d also love to be in criminal litigation or work for the Department of Justice,” he said.
No matter where he ends up, this student veteran is grateful his plans to fly under the radar when he entered Baylor as a freshman were derailed when he made the decision to join Veterans of Baylor and lean into his military experience.
“I met students who were going through the same things as I was,” Bradford said. “I really can’t begin to tell you how central that has been to my career as a student here.”
Today’s College Student
From The Baylor Line, January-February 1956
Typical of the new generation of college students who spend some time in military service before finishing their educations is John Ralph Killgore Jr., of Rosebud.
The 26-year-old junior is asking no help from anyone. Like countless other married veterans on campuses throughout the nation, young Killgore is managing to support a wife, a three-year-old adopted Japanese daughter, Vicky, is taking a full load of courses at Baylor, and expects to get his bachelor’s degree next year with no left-over debts.
In Japan, little more than a year ago, Killgore was an Air Force staff sergeant serving as heavy equipment construction foreman. Now he is his own boss and owns his own bulldozer, scraper, grader, and pickup truck — all purchased second-hand. With the help of the trade the Air Force taught him and a $4,000 loan, Killgore plans to bulldoze his way through college. The big, blond veteran goes to school on the GI bill, but, of course, the amount he receives from the government isn’t enough to support a family of three.
In the Far East, Killgore was directing construction of bomber revetments, storage areas to protect hundreds of United States bombers from enemy bombing raids.
In Waco the former sergeant has been cutting streets for a new residential area. He contracts for street-cutting jobs, ditch-digging, terracing, tanking and excavating, timber clearing, and anything else the three big, clumsy pieces of machinery can do. He works from sunup to sundown attending classes, digging up stories for the Lariat, and digging up streets. After dark, he finds time to spend with his wife, the former Martha Lawson of McGregor, and daughter Vicky — and to study.
It was in Japan, where the Killgores lived for two years, that they found little Vicky in a Catholic orphanage and adopted the 18-month old girl. She is three now. They had looked in a lot of orphanages for a baby to adopt, but there were more people wanting babies than there were babies to adopt. Then they found Vicky, and their search was ended.
Killgore is the son of Ralph Killgore, B.A.’25, editor and publisher of the Rosebud News and postmaster of Rosebud. His mother is a Baylor graduate too — the former Vivian Bain, B.A.’24. Killgore’s younger brother, Jack, is also a junior in Baylor.
After graduation John Ralph Killgore, Jr., plans to go in the newspaper business in Rosebud with his father.
