“It’s a beautiful sight,” veteran Felipe Grimaldo said of the hundred-plus yellow ribbons on the Quad this week — in conjunction with Veterans Day (Nov. 11).

Grimaldo played a big part in tying the ribbons to the trees — in fact, it was his idea. He did it for all veterans — including himself. "I wanted to make sure Veterans Day is a sigificant event on our campus," he said.

Grimaldo enrolled this fall as a transfer student from Cerritos College in Norwalk (Los Angeles County). He started at Cerritos after a four-year hitch in the Marine Corps — with an honorable discharge, he added.

He served as student body president at Cerritos, student member of the Cerritos Community College District board of trustees and student member of the California Community College board of trustees.

Also during his time at Cerritos, he became an activist for veterans, co-founding the Student Veterans Club and serving on a task force that led to the opening of a veterans resource center.

Now he is a junior at UC Davis, majoring in political science with an emphasis in public service.

And he is continuing his activist ways, bringing his ribbon idea to the Veterans Affairs Office and making the project happen, with the support of the office staff and Phi Alpha Delta volunteers.

Younger students (he turns 28 soon) may not make the connection between yellow ribbons and veterans, but, “for a person like me, it means a lot.”

He said he also hopes the ribbons make people stop and think about veterans and what they did for their country before coming to UC Davis.

Yolanda Torres, benefits certifying official in the Veterans Affairs office, said 170 students are receiving veteran education benefits at this time. The veterans count may be higher, but the office keeps track only of those who receive benefits.

She said 475 students receive benefits as dependents of veterans, and of those students, 50 have a parent who is on active duty.

The Veterans Affairs Office is part of the Transfer Re-Entry Center, or TRV, which is part of the Student Academic Success Center in 1210 Dutton Hall.

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