Meet a Roadrunner: Grad student Reuben Aleman helps UTSA student veterans succeed

Reuben Aleman

(March 15, 2017) -- Meet Reuben Aleman ’12. After bravely serving our country in Iraq, this Roadrunner is now studying and working at UTSA to help service members and veterans across the university.

Aleman works as a registrar officer in the UTSA Veterans Certification Office on the Main Campus. The office helps service members and veterans receive their federal educational benefits by sending certification of enrollment to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Aleman and his team also act as a liaison for the UTSA Student Veterans Association on campus.

“We help student veterans get the assistance they need to achieve their personal, professional and educational goals,” said Aleman.

The responsibility is personal for Aleman, who served two tours in Iraq. His first deployment was in 2003. He went back in 2009. He currently serves in a local reserve unit.

A husband and father, Aleman decided to enroll in UTSA’s top-tier history program in the College of Liberal and Fine Arts after returning from his second tour in Iraq. He graduated from UTSA with a bachelor’s degree in 2012 and is currently working on completing his graduate degree in history.

“All the professors in the UTSA Department of History are great and very helpful,” said Aleman. “I have received a lot of support from the faculty here as I navigated through the history coursework.”

Aleman said he is working with Jerry Gonzalez, assistant professor of history, to study race and immigration in the Southwest borderlands. Aleman is also researching eugenics within San Antonio for his senior seminar project. He said he was drawn to this project because he feels our city’s past is more than the battle of the Alamo and military history.

Aleman said his experiences as an employee and student at UTSA have been rewarding.

“I would tell a current or future Roadrunner to take advantage of all the resources available to them,” said Aleman. “All the tools for success are here at UTSA.”

- Kara Mireles

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