Under the new state budget that took effect July 1, Stetson University College of Law will receive robust state support for its Veterans Law Institute and Veterans Advocacy Clinic.
The clinic, which is part of Stetson’s Veterans Law Institute, provides free legal services to veterans and their family members who are appealing decisions about their disability benefits. It also gives students an opportunity to gain legal experience while helping U.S. military veterans.
The 2024-2025 state budget, recently signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, provides $438,000 in funding that will help ensure the Veterans Law Institute and Veterans Advocacy Clinic can continue to carry out its important work.
“Service to our community is a core value at Stetson Law, and we are proud to have one of the Nation’s leading Veterans Clinics,” said Stetson Law Dean D. Benjamin Barros. “We are grateful that our state leadership recognizes the value of the Veterans Advocacy Clinic and is willing to support the transformative outcomes it can provide to those who have served our nation.”
The budget also includes a $500,000 historic preservation grant for the Hulley Tower project on Stetson’s main campus in DeLand.
Meaningful outcomes for those who have served
Stetson Law students and staff provide about 250 hours of free legal work on every client case, work that can result in increased healthcare access and financial stability for veterans and their families. The recent state funding will help ensure the Veterans Law Clinic has the capacity to continue to support veterans who seek the benefits they deserve.
“This support from the State of Florida will be immensely helpful to grow the incredible work that our students and staff do on behalf of veterans every day,” said Stacey-Rae Simcox, a Stetson Law professor and director of the Veterans Law Institute and Veterans Advocacy Clinic. “Through our work, veterans can get access to priority health care and financial help that can mean the end of housing instability for their families.”
Since 2014, the legal work by the Veterans Advocacy Clinic has resulted in veterans receiving about $23 million in additional future benefits, as well as $13 million in retroactive benefits.
Students who have participated in the clinic often seek opportunities to continue using their legal work to help veterans after graduation and have also returned to campus to mentor others who show promise in the area of veterans law.
“Our primary goals are to train law students to be excellent attorneys and to help our nation’s veterans. This funding will help the Veterans Law Institute increase our abilities to do both,” Simcox said. “Increasing a veteran’s access to benefits he or she has earned through service to our nation can be life-changing for both the veteran client and the student who represents the veteran.”
Restoring a campus icon in DeLand
The $500,000 state grant will bolster a grassroots alumni effort to raise about $7 million to reconstruct Hulley Tower to its original 116-foot height and add a new 52-bell carillon on Stetson Law’s main campus in DeLand. The funding will also create an endowment for future maintenance. The tower, built in 1934, was damaged in the 2004 hurricane season and dismantled the following year due to safety concerns. Its base still serves as a mausoleum for the university’s second president, Lincoln Hulley, PhD, and his wife, Eloise.
Once reconstructed, the tower will symbolize the “Soul of Stetson” and serve as a memorial to three Stetson students who were killed in an avalanche in Innsbruck, Austria, in 1979.
“We are incredibly grateful for this support from the Florida Legislature and Governor DeSantis,” said Stetson President Christopher F. Roellke, PhD. “This funding will allow us to restore a treasured historic landmark in DeLand and provide our veterans with pro bono legal services from our College of Law.”
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