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T H E
D I R E C T O R
SCHROEDER ‘07 U . S .
M A R I N E
C O R P S
Behind the steady growth in this particular population of students is an alum of the College, and himself a veteran. Matthew Schroeder is the Director of Military & Veterans Services at Edgewood College.
On campus, he’s hard to miss. Well above six feet tall, he moves deliberately, and is a bit reserved. But a quiet surface is just that; his energy and his passion for “his students” is infectious.
“Being a former student, I wanted to be sure that our veteran students got a full suite of services that I did not get,” he says. “I wanted us to have a primary point of contact for anything that might come up.”
“My drive is to see our students get their education and go on to the next step,” he says. “I want them to come here, get the most out of their time here, and then go out into the community and be game-changers, to make that difference and to be leaders. I want to see Edgewood College continue to do good things, and if I can be that catalyst, that drives me.”
Schroeder is that primary point of contact. As you’ll see, some credit his influence with the decision to enroll in the first place. Most agree the atmosphere Schroeder creates in the Office on the first floor of DeRicci Hall goes a long way toward fostering lasting relationships.
Schroeder says the College’s approach toward serving these students is often first felt at off-campus events in Greater Madison. “They see me, and I’m a reflection of what they’re going to get when they come here,” he says. “Because we do offer a more personal approach than a big school is able to do. Our students get a lot more of a personal relationship because of our department, as opposed to other institutions where there’s one or two people working with 400 students. Here we have myself and two others in the Registrar’s office working on veterans’ benefits.”
SPRING.16//EDGEWOOD COLLEGE MAGAZINE
“As a vet, working with other veterans, working with their families, there’s a different relationship altogether,” he says. “We like to congregate with each other. It’s a mutual respect from the start. They can trust me, they know that I’m going to go that extra mile.”
COVER STORY
MATTHEW