The VFW and UNT Mean Green Announces Veteran Scholarship Agreement

On August 14, 2023, the Phil Miller VFW Post 2205 and the University of North Texas (UNT) Mean Green entered into a historical scholarship agreement for veterans and veteran families. The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2205 and VFW Post 2205 Auxiliary, further strengthened its relationship by ceremonially signing in the agreement to fund a $30,000 scholarship for UNT Veterans or Veteran Family Members.

On-hand for the ceremonial scholarship agreement signing was the UNT President, Neal Smatresk, and VFW Post 2205 leadership including Post Commander – Tim Qualls, Past Post Commander (2021-2023) – Jim Brown (JB), and the current Post 2205 Auxiliary President – Jimmy Franz as signatories. The Past Post Commander, JB, has been instrumental in providing the culture during his tenure as Commander that fostered and led to the relationship with UNT.

VFW Scholarship for UNT Veteran Students

The scholarship will be paid over a five-year period where VFW Post 2205 and Post 2205 Auxiliary agree to each fund half. The Veteran Student Division headed by James Davenport, a Desert Storm Veteran and VFW member, made this possible through working closely with VFW Post 2205 on several other projects. One of those projects included moving the UNT Veteran’s Fraternity meeting to the Post on Wednesday evenings during the school year. Many of the members of the fraternity qualify for a VFW membership, and these students enjoy a space at the Post rather than meeting in a location that does not understand their needs as Veterans.

Expanding Veteran Student Resources at UNT

Another connection between VFW Post 2205 and UNT is providing employment opportunities by jointly hosting a job fair for graduating Veterans. The Veteran population at UNT is close to 3,000 students. Many of these are Iraqi and Afghanistan era Veterans who qualify for membership in the VFW. A relationship with the University of North Texas made sense based on this fact alone, but the families of former service members bring the total pollution that receives benefits from the Veterans Affairs close to 5,000. This is the group the VFW is chartered to serve. 

Scholarship Benefits Both Student Types

The language of the Scholarship is written so that it will be available to both populations of students at UNT. This is a true connection to UNT, and it offered the Post and Auxiliary the chance to strengthen its internal relationship as well, by entering it jointly. To celebrate the momentous occasion Larry Sanders – Commander of the Department of Texas, Robert Rouse – District 1 Commander, Department of Texas, and Cindy Robertson – Auxiliary President for District 1 was present and offered congratulations to all that worked hard to get this done. One scholarship will be made available annually starting in the Spring 2024. This endowment Scholarship is unique in that it is a one-of-a-kind agreement between an individual VFW Post and a Division 1 school.

Other VFW Scholarship Programs

The Veterans of Foreign Wars also has other youth scholarship programs such as the Voice of Democracy which provides scholarship opportunities to students in grades 9 through 12 at the Post, District, State and National levels. Additionally, the Patriot’s Pen program is for students in grades 6 through 8 at all levels like the Voice of Democracy. With the Teacher of the Year program, the VFW wants to identify and recognize America’s best educators (grade categories include K-5, 6-8, and 9-12) who instill a sense of national pride in students. Lastly, the Scout of the Year program recognizes individuals who are: Eagle Scouts, Girl Scout Gold Award recipients, Venture Summit Award recipients and/or Sea Scout Quartermasters who have risen above their peers in exemplifying the qualities of that rank.

About the UNT Mean Green Name

The University of North Texas’s mascot is an Eagle named Scrappy and are formerly known as the North Texas Eagles. The university is now a part of the American Athletic Conference and compete in the NCAA Division 1 rankings. Back in 1966, the name “Mean Green” was adopted by the fans and media from two separate origin stories.

One story goes that the name derived from a cheer for the 1966 defensive squad which included player Joe Greene who played defensive tackle at the time. The football team finished second in the nation that year against the rush. The university began including “Mean Green” within its press releases and the media began adopting the name very quickly.

The second story came from the basketball team’s unenthusiastic crowd. Two players began to chant “Mean Green, you look so good to me” during games to hype up the energy. Over time at every game, this chant stuck with their students. However, many still thought the name originated from the 1966 player, Joe Green.

By 1968, the name Mean Green was entirely adopted, and the naming credit was actually attributed back to the original football cheer, not the player or basketball team chant.

Author Credits: Timothy Middleton, Jr Vice Commander, Phil Miller VFW Post 2205, Denton, Texas