Sheree Peters served thirteen years in the navy. She said that women face special challenges after they leave the military.
“Women tend to have a lot more obligations than men," Peters said. "You’re a mom, you’re doing this, doing that, and so they tend to push being a veteran to the wayside. And you also have a lot of women that just don’t realize that they are actually veterans.”
“When that happens," said UE Director of Veteran Affairs Cherie Leonhardt, "they miss out on information about benefits and support and services that are available to them.”
The university hosts the annual Honoring Women Veterans Conference to bridge this gap. The June 16 event was the conference's ninth since it began in 2010.
Organizers hope the conferences will connect women veterans to support services but also to one another. Peters attended the first conference because she wanted to build community with other veterans when she left the military.
“I ended up meeting so many friends that you see year after year after year that it’s just one of those things I look forward to every year,” she said.
Peters has attended the conference almost every year and now helps plan the event.
Around 130 veterans and current servicewomen attend the conference every year. Attendees come from around the country and have served in the military dating back to World War II.