Evergreen Commemorates the Service of Veterans
(Olympia, Wash.) The Evergreen State College welcomes three distinctive leaders during its Veterans Day Commemoration on November 12, 2007 beginning at noon in the Evergreen State College Recital Hall of the Communications Building and continuing in the afternoon with a special presentation of The Impact of War Comes Home from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Seminar 2 building, room A 1105. The event is free and open to the public.
Guest speakers include Michael Colson, two-tour Veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan and outreach coordinator for the Seattle Vet Center; Tracy Simpson, co-director of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Women’s Trauma and Recovery Center; and Doris Kent, Gold Star Mother of fallen soldier Jonathan J. Santos.
About Michael Colson
Michael Colson is a former Navy Commander and chaplain who is now the outreach coordinator for the Seattle Vet Center, assisting returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. He is a National Service Fellow and a recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal. Colson holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Sociology and Human Services. He has worked for over 22 years in a variety of challenging military and humanitarian assignments, holding positions ranging from public school teacher and principal to college professor and Foreign Service Officer.
About Tracy Simpson
Tracy Simpson, Ph.D. is the Co-Director of the Women’s Trauma and Recovery Center at the Seattle Division of the VA Puget Sound Health Care System. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington. Dr. Simpson has worked at Seattle VA as a clinical psychologist, specializing in the care of women veterans with military trauma histories, for over seven years. Her primary areas of interest are evaluating treatments for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder among women veterans, developing a better understanding co-occurring PTSD and substance use disorders, and helping the VA better address the needs of both our existing women veterans and the new women veterans who will seek care at the VA in the near and long term future.
About Doris Kent
Doris Kent is a Gold Star Mother. Her oldest son, Specialist Jonathan J. Santos with the 9th Psychological Operations Battalion, 4th Psychological Operations Group (airborne) was killed by an improvised explosive device in Karabilah, Iraq on October 15, 2004. Jonathan Santos and Doris Kent are members of a family with a tradition of military service, including service by Jonathan’s father, stepfather, and both of his grandfathers. Doris Kent has made a commitment never to forget the sacrifice of any soldier and to remind us all that the impact of war can not be conveyed with casualty numbers alone.
The Evergreen State College is located at 2700 Evergreen Parkway NW in Olympia. For driving directions and a map of the campus, visit www.evergreen.edu.