Story by Jamie Traynor • Photos by Lukas Keapproth

Positive, persistent change. 

These three words have come to define Joshua Jones, a senior studying economics, with a minor in biology, and the 2023 President’s Medallion recipient at Loyola University Chicago for the College of Arts and Sciences. 

“I’ve always had a passion for helping people. I want to solve problems, to create positive, persistent change in my community,” he said. 

On the surface, Jones is a typical student. He goes to class, does his homework, interns part-time, and hangs out with friends. After graduation, Jones hopes to work in consulting for nonprofits and pursue an MBA.  

Beneath that surface, Jones belongs to a small, unique, and often invisible community on campus – one that is central to his identity, experience at Loyola, and goals for the future. 

Jones is a student veteran. 

“I enlisted in the Marine Corps when I was 17 for two different reasons,” said Jones. The first, to pay for his eventual college degree. The second, to learn discipline and find direction. 

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do. But I knew I wanted to meet diverse people and to be exposed to diverse perspectives and cultures. I thought if I experienced those things young, I would get a better sense of where I wanted to go in life.”  

Jones found the diverse perspectives and community he was looking for and after four years of service, he set his eyes on the next step: college. Jones took advantage of his benefits from the GI Bill, which provides educational assistance to servicemembers, veterans, and their dependents, and enrolled at Loyola.  

Used to a tight-knit unit and militant structure, Jones found himself in a brave new world. 

“I had come back home, but life was different. My community was gone,” said Jones. “Transitional support for military members is virtually nonexistent, or at least not very helpful.” 

Although Jones hoped to find community here at Loyola, he resolved to focus on school and achieve a sense of normalcy. 

Jones started as a biology major with the goal of going on to medical school. But unbeknownst to him, Jones would embark on a new path entirely when he started “UNIV 201: Transfer Seminar,” in a segment designed to help student veterans adjust to life at Loyola.  

“The instructor, Alex Pirila, introduced me to Loyola’s Student Veterans of America (SVA) chapter.” 

Pirila, Director of Military Student Services, encouraged Jones to attend a meeting. 

“There were only a couple of members and engagement was really low, mostly because of COVID,” explained Jones. “The president of the chapter was stepping down and asked if I would take his place. I said no at first, but they were going to shut down the chapter for a semester.” 

Jones decided to take a leap of faith and see where it took him, the ethos of the Marine Corps – honor, courage, commitment – guiding his way. 

“In the Marine Corps, we’re taught how to do the best with what we’re given. We always got the hand-me-downs from the other branches, so we know how to do a lot with a little.” 

Struggling with his own transition to civilian and student life, Jones drafted a new mission for SVA’s Loyola chapter focused on providing student veterans with what they need most: support throughout college and opportunities for professional development. 

“The difference between civilian students and student veterans is huge,” said Jones. “Most of us have families and kids. We’re entering the labor market with experiences that are difficult to translate to a resume. We’re competing with younger people. It can be really tough and there isn’t a lot of support.”  

Since stepping into this leadership role, Jones has helped overhaul the student veteran experience at Loyola. Jones raised engagement on campus by 800% and boosted the roster up to 40 active members. 

He forged new partnerships around campus, including with the Department of Military Science's Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and the Gannon Center for Women and Leadership. In 2021, he spoke at the American Legion’s National Convention on student veteran advocacy. 

But Jones didn’t stop there. His entrepreneurial spirit inspired him to host the first ever student veteran career fair in Illinois here at Loyola. 

“We cold-called about 500 different companies. 12 said yes and came to the fair.” 

50 veterans, 47 of which were Loyola students, attended. 

“At Loyola, it was a success. But students at other schools assumed it wasn’t for them,” he explained. This only ignited his entrepreneurial spirit. “I saw an open market.” 

Jones partnered with five other student veterans from five different schools and Chicago Brigade was born. A student-led nonprofit, Chicago Brigade provides professional development, employment opportunity, and community to the 6,000 veterans attending college in Chicagoland by directly connecting them with employers. 

Less than a year since its founding, Chicago Brigade has worked with 300 student veterans and hosted 20 different partner companies for networking, career fairs, and its five-week professional development experience. This experience excites Jones most.  

“We take a student all the way from their loose career aspirations to building resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and interview skills to land a job and succeed on the job.” 

Chicago Brigade’s top sponsors – Uber, BMO Harris, Walsh, Ernst & Young, Edelman, and Willis Towers Watson – come to sessions with recruiters and hiring managers to facilitate real, one-on-one interviews and workshop how students can improve. Each session culminates in a celebration at a sponsor’s headquarters.  

“It helped me focus my priorities and understand how to navigate a career in the civilian sector,” said Jonathan Houser, a Navy veteran and senior studying computer science at Loyola. 

Rose-Laure Bazile, a Navy veteran and graduate student in Loyola’s School of Communication and participant in the latest session, confirmed, “Chicago Brigade helped me gain confidence in corporate America.” 

Struggling to book interviews after graduating with her bachelor’s degree and struck with panic by the uncertainties of the transition, Bazile found relief with Chicago Brigade. 

“I realized I wasn’t alone. Other student vets experienced the same difficulties. This perspective changed my life. It reassured me that I have time to practice getting better at interviewing and networking.” 

Andrew Rios, Navy, went from striking out on applications to getting two internship offers within just three weeks of the program. “No one has ever done anything like that for me." 

In 2022, Jones was named “Student Veteran of the Year” by the national chapter of SVA for his work on and off campus. He was selected from a group of approximately 750,000 students.

While Chicago Brigade was Jones’ labor of love, he plans to transition from CEO to an advisory position upon graduation to ensure the nonprofit continues to be student-led.  

“I had Loyola’s support every step of the way. The community here, from students to faculty and staff, is rooted in service,” said Jones. “They genuinely want to uplift our community from the very top and they don’t just say so – they show it through their actions.” 

"Working alongside Joshua the past two years has been outstanding," said Pirila. "His commitment to helping others while maintaining academic excellence is unbelievable. He will be a model for future generations of student veterans at Loyola."

Pirila and Phil Hale, Loyola’s vice president of government affairs, were key supporters of Jones’ advocacy on Capitol Hill. 

“The culture of higher education has changed. While online classes are easier and more convenient, it messes with student veterans,” explained Jones. “If you don’t have at least one in-person credit during the summer months, your monthly allowance – which we depend on to cover rent, groceries, and other essentials – falls to half of the national average, regardless of the cost of living where you are.” 

Jones set out to change this. He worked with Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and visited Washington, D.C., this spring to meet with the House of Representatives’ Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. 

Thanks to Jones, Representative Juan Ciscomani of Arizona recently introduced a bipartisan bill that will amend the GI Bill to provide all veterans with the full national average – an additional $1,000 per month – during the summer months. If passed, this will benefit 850,000 students nationwide. 

Jones was invited to accompany President Biden to Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day for the annual wreath laying ceremony in 2023 at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in honor of fallen US soldiers whose remains have never been found or identified. 

Although Jones has accomplished more than most during his college career, he is humble about his success and impact. He credits his family, who have always given him their full support to pursue his passions, and, ironically, his comfortability with failure. 

“I’ve had failures in my career. You just can’t let the failures tear you down. Learn from them and implement them into your future goals. Don’t be afraid of the word no, don’t take the no’s personally, and keep going,” he said.  

“Anyone can do this work. If you want to impact the lives of people around you, become comfortable with being uncomfortable and go create postive, persistent change. Find what you’re passionate about and find five people that resonate with you. Cast a wide net and see what happens.” 

About the College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences is the oldest of Loyola University Chicago’s 15 schools, colleges, and institutes. More than 150 years since its founding, the College is home to 20 academic departments and 36 interdisciplinary programs and centers, more than 450 full-time faculty, and nearly 8,000 students. The 2,000+ classes that we offer each semester span an array of intellectual pursuits, ranging from the natural sciences and computational sciences to the humanities, the social sciences, and the fine and performing arts. Our students and faculty are engaged internationally at our campus in Rome, Italy, as well as at dozens of University-sponsored study abroad and research sites around the world. Home to the departments that anchor the University’s Core Curriculum, the College seeks to prepare all of Loyola’s students to think critically, to engage the world of the 21st century at ever deepening levels, and to become caring and compassionate individuals. Our faculty, staff, and students view service to others not just as one option among many, but as a constitutive dimension of their very being. In the truest sense of the Jesuit ideal, our graduates strive to be “individuals for others.”