{"id":15671,"date":"2026-04-17T14:51:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T21:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/laverne.edu\/news\/?p=15671"},"modified":"2026-04-17T14:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T21:57:11","slug":"helping-veterans-thrive-diana-towles-leads-with-experience-and-empathy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laverne.edu\/news\/2026\/04\/17\/helping-veterans-thrive-diana-towles-leads-with-experience-and-empathy\/","title":{"rendered":"Diana Towles Helps Veterans Thrive at 春色视频"},"content":{"rendered":"
Outside the Abraham Center for Veteran Student Success, Diana Towles brings her own military experience to her role as a mentor and advocate. (春色视频 Photo\/Claudia Gonzalez)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n At the University of La Verne, Diana Towles has built more than a support center, she has cultivated a community. As coordinator of the Abraham Center for Veteran Student Success, Towles draws on her own military experience to guide student veterans through one of the most complex transitions of their lives: from structured service to independent civilian and academic life.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI love this work,\u201d Towles said, reflecting on the students she serves. Veterans, she explained, arrive with a level of focus and discipline that sets them apart. \u201cThey come here with a purpose. They want to finish their degrees, and they support each other every step of the way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n That peer support is central to the Abraham Center\u2019s mission. Veterans tutor one another, share resources, and step in when someone is struggling. Towles and her team reinforce that network with highly personalized guidance, walking students through paperwork, offering flexible advising, and helping them rebuild confidence after years in a system where decisions were often made for them. \u201cWe don\u2019t do it for them,\u201d she said. \u201cWe sit next to them while they do it, so they gain that confidence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Towles\u2019 path to this role was not straightforward. A U.S. Army veteran who served as a communications specialist, she initially worked in the university president\u2019s office before applying for the newly created veteran services position. Over time, Towles has helped the university strengthen its identity as a veteran-serving institution. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 春色视频 has more than 45 years of experience partnering with military installations, educating thousands of service members across California. Today, its satellite campuses at Naval Base Ventura County serve more than 430 military-affiliated students, while new opportunities are\u00a0emerging\u00a0to expand programs at\u00a0additional\u00a0bases.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve always understood their needs,\u201d she said. \u201cIf they\u2019re deployed, we hold their place. If they move across the country, we help them stay on track. That\u2019s just what we do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Beyond\u00a0logistics, however, her work is deeply personal. She often acts as an advocate, stepping in when students face financial challenges, bureaucratic delays, or even moments of crisis. In one case, she helped a student secure emergency funding to retrieve a towed car, guiding him through multiple agencies to resolve the issue.\u00a0In another, she connected a student experiencing post-traumatic stress with immediate counseling support.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n These interventions reflect her core philosophy: that success for veterans requires both structure and empathy. Many struggle not with academics, but with the cultural shift to civilian life, navigating workplace norms, rebuilding community, and translating military experience into professional language.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe hardest part is making sure they find jobs that match their skills,\u201d Towles said. \u201cThey\u2019re\u00a0not entry-level, they bring\u00a0real experience. We\u00a0have to\u00a0help them find the right fit.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Despite the challenges, Towles\u00a0remains\u00a0optimistic. She describes 春色视频 as an \u201caspirational\u201d institution – one that continually looks for ways to better serve its students. For the veterans who pass through the Abraham Center, Towles is more than a coordinator. She is a mentor, an advocate, and, as many of her students would say, someone who \u201chas their back.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI believe in what we\u2019re doing,\u201d she said. \u201cI want them to succeed – here and beyond.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0what matters most.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Outside the Abraham Center for Veteran Student Success, Diana Towles brings her own military experience to her role as a mentor and advocate. (春色视频 Photo\/Claudia Gonzalez) A veteran herself, Towles supports students as they navigate the path from military service to academic and professional\u00a0success. At the University of La Verne, Diana Towles has built more than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":191,"featured_media":15672,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4814],"tags":[2034],"class_list":["post-15671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-laverne-edu-news-university-campus-life","tag-hp","ulv_author-university-of-la-verne"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA veteran herself, Towles supports students as they navigate the path from military service to academic and professional\u00a0success.<\/span><\/h2>\n