Early Saturday morning, as the campus was waking, the participants of the First Annual Hero Games were warming up for a day of fitness and honoring those who have fallen. The event was sponsored by the Student Veterans Association or SVA. Each workout honored the memory of Colorado natives who were killed in action while serving their country in three of the branches of the military; the Marine Corps, the Navy Seals and the Army. Those honored included: Lance Corporal Chris “Steele” Meis, Petty Officer 2nd Class (SEAL) Mario Maestas and Sergeant First Class Will Lindsay.

The SVA is open to all undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Denver. The Office for Student Veterans is located on the first floor of Nelson Hall. The goal of the organization is to assist veterans transitioning to school life, navigating GI benefits and resources across campus, and connecting members with different school resources to assist them in their time on campus.

There were three different workouts: Marine Corp Combat Fitness Test, Navy Seal Log PT and Army Airborne Tactical Athlete.

In an interview with SVA President Sam Hickey, he shared why SVA wanted to kickstart the Hero Games on-campus. “Chancellor Chopp started the OneDU initiative and what we are looking to do is to really forward that initiative and it just so happened that Chancellor Haefner had the 4 D student and one of the pillars is physical fitness”. Sam continued, “What we are looking to do is we are looking to make the military more accessible and not such a mystery to people that do know anything about it”.

When thinking about next year, Sam said he would like to see all of DU from Students, Faculty, and Staff participating in the Hero Games.

If you have any questions about the Student Veterans Association, feel free to reach out to the organization at duherogames@du.edu.