News

MSW student’s personal mission turns communal

by Claudia Bustamante

For Shawn Cervantes, going back to school began as a personal desire to help her family, but it has since grown into a drive to change her community.

An Army wife for 25 years, Cervantes’ main role was caring for her three children during her husband’s multiple deployments. It was his last deployment in 2005 — when his vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device — that led her back into the classroom.

“When he came home, he wasn’t interested in getting any type of care. He was an old Army soldier,” she said.

Eventually they separated, but with her […]

By |April 16th, 2014|News|0 Comments

Buffalo Soldier, U.S. Marines share stories of segregation

by Claudia Bustamante

Every year, residents of Lucca, in Tuscany, celebrate the end of Nazi occupation by honoring the Americans who came to liberate it.

In 1944, much of occupied Tuscany was freed by the U.S. Army 92nd Infantry Division, the only segregated division to fight in Europe during World War II. They were known as buffalo soldiers.

“Here we were in World War II, giving them their freedom and not even free ourselves,” said Ivan Houston, a former Army sergeant and author of “Black Warriors: The Buffalo Soldiers of World War II.”

“We were second-class citizens.”

Houston, along with original African-American members of the […]

By |April 8th, 2014|Events, News|0 Comments