(Butler, PA) A succession of seven motorcycles interrupted the still of a July midafternoon, military veterans or relatives of those who protected the United States since Vietnam steering Harleys and Hondas and BMWs toward Butler County Community College to commemorate a financial gift collected to permanently support their brethren’s adjustment “from combat to the classroom.”
Officers and members of the 3-year-old American Legion Riders Chapter 778, Lyndora, presented Monday to the BC3 Education Foundation a ceremonial $15,000 check representing their establishment of an endowed scholarship that will fund tuition and fees, or books or other educational expenses facing BC3’s student-veterans.
“You have to transition back into the civilian world,” said Brian Johanson, who was deployed to Iraq in 2003 during his 11 years in the Army Reserve and is director of the American Legion Riders Chapter 778. “You have been deployed maybe a year, maybe two years, or maybe you have had two or three deployments in a row, and it’s tough to get back into the swing of things.
“It is very important for troops to be able to have the opportunity for higher education so that they can transition from combat to the classroom and into the civilian job market.”
The American Legion Riders Chapter 778 Veterans Scholarship will be initially awarded in the 2025-2026 academic year to an honorably discharged U.S. veteran registered for at least six credits at BC3 and who has achieved a grade-point average of at least 2.0, said Bobbi Jo Cornetti, development coordinator of the BC3 Education Foundation.
The award will debut at approximately $600, Cornetti said.
“It is very important for troops to be able to have the opportunity for higher education so that they can transition from combat to the classroom and into the civilian job market.”
“The civilian world sometimes doesn’t understand”
BC3’s 66 student-veterans in the spring 2024 semester lived in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Clarion, Clearfield, Crawford, Elk, Jefferson or Lawrence counties and represented the Air Force, Army, Army Reserve, Marine Corps, National Guard or Navy, said Stella Smith, the college’s veterans coordinator and associate director of financial aid.
They averaged 32 years of age, and nearly half were enrolled full time, Smith said.
“It’s difficult when you are a nontraditional student,” said Johanson, who earned a bachelor’s degree in 2016 from the University of Pittsburgh at age 39. “And if you were in the military, everything was regimented. You had a set schedule in which you knew what you would be doing pretty much every day. You were used to dealing with life or death situations. The civilian world sometimes doesn’t understand what you have been through.”
Student-veterans in the spring were registered in 27 different associate degree, certificate or workplace certificate programs at BC3, Smith said.
“They are used to ‘This is the mission that I have to complete,’” Smith said. “‘So once I am done with this mission you are going to give me another mission.’ They can look at school as a mission. And after they complete school, their next mission may be to get a job or a different job.”
The debut of American Legion Riders Chapter 778 Veterans Scholarship in the 2025-2026 academic year will bring to eight the number of financial awards available to only BC3’s student-veterans since the first was established in 2013, Cornetti said.
The American Legion Riders Chapter 778 chose only BC3 among institutions of higher education to establish a scholarship for student-veterans, Johanson said.
“BC3 has a great reputation for helping student-veterans,” Johanson said, “and a great reputation in general as a community college. Being that it is very veteran friendly definitely helps.”
The college in the spring was designated for the eighth time as a Military Friendly School by Viqtory.
“This scholarship will help not just one veteran, but veterans across the ages. It will touch the life of someone who isn’t even in the service yet.”
A scholarship created with or that reaches $15,000 becomes endowed and “will last in perpetuity,” said Megan M. Coval, BC3’s interim president. “Every year a student will be able to benefit from those funds. This scholarship will help not just one veteran, but veterans across the ages. It will touch the life of someone who isn’t even in the service yet.”
The American Legion Riders Lyndora Chapter 778’s financial gift was funded mostly by profits from a 21-day raffle whose prizes included a $24,000 motorcycle, three $500 payouts and various firearms or their cash equivalent, Johanson said.
Bill Long joined fellow American Legion Riders Chapter 778 officers Johanson, Randy Mortimer, Michael Smith, Marty Mitchell and Chip Hill, and chapter members in riding motorcycles to BC3 for the check presentation Monday.
Raising money for the scholarship, said Long, who served 10 years in the Air Force, “is a continuation of my service to our country.”
Mortimer’s father served in the Air Force.
The scholarship supporting BC3’s student-veterans is important, Mortimer said, “because these men and women joined the service on their own and put their lives on the line to keep all Americans free and safe.”
BC3’s student-veterans in the spring were enrolled in short-term certificate or workplace certificate programs; in two-year associate degree career programs such as business management or Nursing, R.N.; or in two-year associate degree transfer programs such as criminology or early childhood education (Pre K-4), Smith said.
Seven scholarships are available to student-veterans from the BC3 Education Foundation in the 2024-2025 academic year and range from $500 to $1,220, Cornetti said. Five are endowed.
The American Legion Riders Chapter 778 has 69 members, Johanson said. Members must be a veteran or the son or daughter of a veteran, possess a Class M license, a valid registration and insurance, own a motorcycle and be able to ride for at least two years, Johanson said.
Viqtory is a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business in Moon Township assesses educational institutions nationwide. Its 2024-2025 Military Friendly School designation is weighted on factors that include military student support and retention, graduation and career outcomes, culture and commitment, and admissions and orientation.
