Karazin University Discusses Exchange of Experience with Cincinnati Partners on Developing Veteran Support Systems

Karazin University is interested in exchanging experience with partners in Cincinnati on supporting veterans and developing a long-term veterans policy. The University’s leadership, led by Acting Rector Oleksandr Holovko, discussed this during a meeting with Bob Herring, President of the Kharkiv–Cincinnati Sister City Partnership.

Veterans policy is already an important area of activity at Karazin University. The University has a Veterans Development Centre that supports veterans, facilitates their professional and educational reintegration, and helps them access new opportunities after they return from military service.

At the same time, the University seeks to expand its efforts by drawing on international experience. Of particular interest is the Cincinnati model, in which medical and educational institutions play an active role in the veteran support system. The University of Cincinnati, for example, has a Veterans Programs & Services Office, while the VetSuccess on Campus programme operates separately with the participation of specialists from the US Department of Veterans Affairs. The Cincinnati VA Medical Center is also an important part of this support network, providing veterans with medical care, psychological support and physical rehabilitation, assistance with the transition to civilian life, social support, and long-term care services.

“We understand our mission is to serve as a platform for fostering mutual understanding, trust, and respect. Above all, this means respect and a culture of gratitude towards our veterans, who are returning to our community today,” Oleksandr Holovko noted.

The meeting emphasised that support for veterans must extend beyond short-term assistance. For Karazin University, this cooperation offers an opportunity not only to learn from American experience but also to develop its own solutions tailored to Ukrainian realities. Veterans policy in Ukraine is taking shape amid a full-scale war whose scale and consequences cannot be fully predicted.

According to Bob Herring, the partnership is ready to share its experience and explore opportunities for joint initiatives, having actively supported Kharkiv since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Following the meeting, proposals for further cooperation are to be developed. Karazin University aims to become one of the platforms where veterans policy is advanced not as a collection of separate, short-term projects, but as an integral part of university and public life.