An American Legion member speaks at the Memorial Union on Nov. 7.  Photo by Ethan Arlien/The Dakota Student

UND was presented with a charter for an American Legion  Chapter in a ceremony held on Nov. 7 in the Memorial Union.

The charter is the second university charter to be given out in the state of North Dakota. Composed of 22 Veterans, the UND Chapter was granted its charter by the North Dakota Department of The American Legion on Oct. 14.

Membership in the post is open to all war-time military personnel, active duty, National Guard, reserves and individuals honorably separated from their military service. The 22 initial members of UND Post 401 include student veterans, drilling and guard reserves and veterans who attended or work at UND.

Provost Thomas DiLorenzo was on hand for the ceremony to help celebrate the new post just days before Veterans Day.

“We would like to welcome all of you to UND,” DiLorenzo said. “We’re making a commitment here, and we’d like to acknowledge that. We’re here to give our veterans a home here on campus. We view our campus as veteran-friendly and this helps us to continue our commitment.”

The American Legion started in 1919 as a veterans association to help youth, servicemen and veterans and is now comprised of more than 2 million members nationwide.

“It’s veterans helping veterans,” Department Adjutant David Johnson said. “We’ll get the younger veterans involved, and, from them, we’ll learn how to communicate.”

The campus post will allow veterans to connect with other veterans and servicemen in the community and serve as a recruiting tool.

“We’d like to acknowledge all that the veterans have done for North Dakota and for our country,” DiLorenzo said. “We look forward to hosting this post and to help veterans assimilate back into society and campus life. So welcome to UND, and I’m especially pleased that we were able to recognize and develop this post here.”

Megan Hoffman is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at [email protected].