W&L Law Students Named Co-Directors for Service to School Program for Veterans

By Peter Jetton
June 15, 2017

Washington and Lee law school second-year law students David Thompson and Michael Stinnett-Kassoff have been named co-directors for law admissions for Service 2 School, a non-profit organization that provides educational guidance and networking opportunities for U.S. military service members and veterans.

Thompson and Stinnett-Kassoff will lead the law admissions division, helping veterans navigate the admissions process for law schools. They served previously as volunteer ambassadors for the organization, reviewing individual applications to law schools across the country.

“The wars of Iraq and Afghanistan created a number of entrepreneurial young adults—service members that the U.S. government entrusted with significant responsibility,” says Thompson. “Service 2 School helps empower these veterans to continue serving after they last lace up their combat boots. My aim is to support veterans in leveraging their experiences to continue their service in a new capacity.”

Service 2 School has ambassadors that assist service members and veterans with undergraduate admissions as well as admission to business, law and other graduate programs. Veterans can connect for free with an ambassador, and the ambassador provides individual support with the applicant on each step of the process, including test preparation advice, transcript review, interview preparation, and networking.

“The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act was one of the greatest investments Congress made in modern history. For every dollar invested in World War II veterans for education benefits, the U.S. received almost seven dollars in return through sustained economic growth,” says Stinnett-Kassoff. “Through my work with Service 2 School, I aim to help the veterans of today’s war on terror not only take advantage of every benefit they earned, but contribute towards the long-term economic growth of the U.S. by attending our nation’s top  schools just as our predecessors—the Greatest Generation— once did.”

Both Thompson and Stinnett-Kassoff served in the U.S. military. Thompson was on active duty with the U.S. Army for more than eight years, first as a military police officer and then as an officer with Special Operations Civil Affairs. He was deployed to Afghanistan and Jordan and is currently in the Army Reserves.

Stinnett-Kassoff served in the U.S. Navy for eight years, with deployments in the Persian Gulf and off the coast of Russia and China. He completed his service with a three-year tour as a weapons instructor tasked with training helicopter squadrons in the Pacific Fleet in helicopter weapons systems proficiency.

At W&L Law, both Thompson and Stinnett-Kassoff are involved with Washington and Lee Veterans’ Advocates, a student group dedicated to advocating for veterans and increasing awareness of issues related to veterans, national security strategy, or defense policy. In addition, Thompson is involved with the Women Law Students Organization (WLSO) and Stinnett-Kassoff is a junior editor for the German Law Journal.

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