{"id":2137,"date":"2017-11-06T15:52:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T15:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/developmenttwo.marymount.edu\/blog\/galvan-named-military-and-veteran-student-services-coordinator-at-marymount\/"},"modified":"2017-11-06T15:52:00","modified_gmt":"2017-11-06T15:52:00","slug":"galvan-named-military-and-veteran-student-services-coordinator-at-marymount","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/galvan-named-military-and-veteran-student-services-coordinator-at-marymount\/","title":{"rendered":"Galvan Named Military and Veteran Student Services Coordinator at Marymount"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mary Galvan<\/a>, newly-appointed Military and Veteran Student Services Coordinator at Marymount University, wants to use her experience growing up in a Navy family to advocate for the military community on campus.<\/p>\n

As part of her new mission, Galvan has been busy preparing for Military\/Veteran Appreciation Week, which kicks off with a noon Mass on Monday, Nov. 6. The week honors past and present service members and will conclude with MU\u0092s annual Veteran\u0092s Day Luncheon on Friday, Nov. 10.<\/p>\n

\u0093We provide GI Bill benefits for anyone who is eligible,\u0094 Galvan said. \u0093But I want to reach out to the rest of the military community \u0096 even those who don\u0092t receive benefits \u0097 and let them know that we\u0092re here for them.\u0094<\/p>\n

Galvan was born in Virginia Beach and her father was a naval aviator who flew P-3 Orion sub hunters. The family moved with his assignments, which included stops in Brunswick, Maine, and Pax River, Maryland. He retired as a captain. A grandfather and an uncle were three star admirals.<\/p>\n

\u0093My family, going back generations, has been in the military and that\u0092s all I\u0092ve known,\u0094 said Galvan, a 2012 Marymount graduate with a degree in health sciences.<\/p>\n

She also knows the hardships military families can experience. A great uncle was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, an uncle was lost at sea in his fighter jet, and an aunt who was a Navy doctor died in an auto accident.<\/p>\n

\u0093I want students who are military family members to know that I\u0092m here for them and that I understand their situation,\u0094 she said. \u0093I\u0092ll be able to be with them, not just to process their benefits but to advocate for their needs. It\u0092s what I\u0092m passionate about.\u0094<\/p>\n

Her husband, Nicolas Galvan, is a Naval Academy graduate and a captain in the Marine reserves. He works for the Department of Defense as a logistics analyst at the Pentagon. While on active duty, he was stationed at Camp Pendleton and the couple lived in California for four years.<\/p>\n

Galvan graduated from St. Mary\u0092s Ryken, a Catholic high school in Leonardtown, Maryland, and planned to attend the Naval Academy until, during a summer visit, she realized she didn\u0092t feel the pull she\u0092d anticipated. Instead, she chose Marymount, which was recommended by her mother, who had attended for a semester and loved the school.<\/p>\n

\u0093Faith is very important to me and here you\u0092re surrounded by that,\u0094 she said.<\/p>\n

Galvan began her new job on Sept. 13 and has already lined up a full slate of campus activities for Military\/Veteran Appreciation week:<\/p>\n