My students (or, as I refer to them, “my Classtronauts”) are required to participate in activities and events to help them transition into the campus community during their first semester. Yesterday, a group of seven attended the 15th Annual Vagina Monologues at EKU. I told them they’d get extra credit if they could get a group photo with some of the cast members. They managed to get one with the WHOLE cast!

Travis L. Martin, PhD, is founding director of the Kentucky Center for Veterans Studies at Eastern Kentucky University. He has established several nationally recognized programs to support returning veterans in higher education and the non-profit sector. A scholar of American literature, psychoanalytic trauma theory, and social theory, Dr. Martin presents frequently at conferences and universities. He has published dozens of research articles and creative short works on veterans’ issues. A former sergeant in the U.S. Army, he served during two deployments in the Iraq War (2003-04 & 2005). His book War and Homecoming: Veteran Identity and the Post-9/11 Generation is slated for publication with the University Press of Kentucky in 2022. He resides in Richmond, KY.