Maggie Brennan, a sophomore in the Kogod School of Business, comes from a family steeped in military tradition and was surprised to find a lack of awareness for veterans issues on AU’s campus.
“There are a lot of events talking about war [on campus] but not a lot of events talking about veterans,” Brennan said.
She is working to raise more awareness through “Writings of War,” an event featuring military veterans involved with programs that allow them to share their experiences through the arts. The event started as an individual project for the School of Public Affairs Leadership Program, which Brennan is a part of, and combines her passion for veterans issues with her love of creative writing.
“These veterans are turning their experiences, which they don’t even necessarily view negatively, into something that is a statement of experience about war, about the military and about humanity in a lot of ways,” she said.
Brennan reached out to the ROTC community on campus and in D.C. as well. The soldier mentality is very stoic, she said, and she wants to take away some of the stigma for soldiers around sharing their emotions and thoughts about war.
“I’d really like to make sure that ROTC members and anybody who’s involved in the military know it’s okay and that there are organizations and resources in order for them to share their experiences, their stories and their talents,” she said.
The speakers for the event include Tara Tappert from the Combat Paper Project, Alex Mallory from The Veteran Artist Program and Maurice Decaul from the Warrior Writers project. After months of emails and phone calls, Brennan said she is most excited to finally meet the veterans in person on Saturday.
“These people are extraordinary and they do amazing, amazing work every day,” she said. “I just want to meet them and talk to them and also to really share it with the AU community and see the response.”
For Brennan, the event is just the beginning of a life-long commitment to helping veterans through the arts. Although she had originally wanted to teach writing to veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, logistical issues proved to be too big of a challenge, and she turned the event into a push for awareness.
“I’m hoping for awareness of the issue of the traumatic experiences of war but also almost the beauty that comes out of it,” Brennan said.
“Writings of War” takes place on Saturday, April 19 from 3 to 5 p.m. in McDowell Formal.
