SENIOR PROFILE: Sean O'Keefe

After serving as a Green Beret special forces engineer, Sean O’Keefe was discharged from the military in spring 2007 after five years. Now graduating from the School of General Studies, O’Keefe has breathed new life into the veteran community on campus.

During his time in the military, O’Keefe learned French, was stationed in Germany, took college courses, and ended up in Colorado. But once he returned home, he wanted to distance himself from the veteran community. ““It’s not something you want to remember all the time,” O’Keefe said. “I kind of saw the veteran community as going back to that.”

He had a change of heart upon coming to Columbia, where he became president of U.S. Military Veterans of Columbia University, also called “MilVets.” He worked with fellow club members to gain the support of legislators for the new G.I. Bill, which provides educational benefits to veterans.

According to O’Keefe, due to the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, there has been an increase in the number of veterans enrolling at the University. He sees a mutually beneficial relationship between this growing population and more traditional undergraduates. “Their professionalism is a key asset,” O’Keefe said. “One of the aspects that has helped me succeed in college is the discipline.”

“GS was founded as a college of the University in order to integrate the veterans coming out of World War II,” Dean of General Studies Peter Awn said. “So in a wonderful way, Sean is helping us get back to our roots.”

O’Keefe’s main goals for MilVets have included fostering alumni connections for veterans, creating meaningful friendships within the group, sorting out problems with the G.I. Bill, and reaching out to current service members who are considering Columbia. Many of these prospective students, he said, ask whether Columbia is too uninviting a place for veterans, and O’Keefe’s mission on campus has been to respond to those concerns with a resounding “no.”

“He was a catalyst for the mobilization of the group,” Awn said. “Now they have a critical mass, so that the MilVets is a self-sustaining operation.”

Now, after having been part of MilVets since coming to Columbia and working to support veterans at the University, O’Keefe is once again going abroad. This time, he is traveling to England and the London School of Economics in the fall to pursue a master’s degree in operational research.