每年，澳门大学堪萨斯分校校友会都会举办颁奖典礼，表彰杰出校友的成就。 The university and the association are honoring Bryan Meyer (B.A. ’11, M.P.A. ’15, J.D. ’15) with the Alumnus of the Year Award.
Meyer is a co-founder of the 退伍军人社区计划 at 89th and Troost in Kansas City, an innovative non-profit that provides housing for homeless veterans in a tiny home village. 这个想法来自于他召集的许多当地退伍军人的会议，这些退伍军人和他一样，想为解决退伍军人社区的无家可归和其他问题做点什么。 Today, under Meyer’s leadership as CEO, the VCP also provides wrap-around support services and emergency assistance.
Buoyed by the VCP’s local success, Meyer was inspired to take the concept nationwide. 2019年，他聘请了老将、前密苏里州国务卿杰森·坎德（Jason Kander）来领导扩张活动。 以堪萨斯城为蓝图，VCP已经正式开始扩张，在科罗拉多州的朗蒙特发射了第一个卫星位置。
是什么个人经历促使你攻读法律学位和mpa ？
When I began at 威尼斯人娱乐城, I didn’t have a plan to pursue a particular degree because I didn’t know what my long-term goals were. 为了获得一份特定的工作，我没有追求学位，而是选择了我感兴趣的科目。 这些兴趣最终让我明白，我渴望帮助周围的人。 我知道从文学硕士和法律学位中获得的知识对我为社区造福的能力起到了重要作用。
启动VCP的最大挑战是什么？
最大的挑战是把一个好主意变成现实。 退伍军人社区计划 is a great idea, but even the best ideas aren’t enough, it’s the ability to implement ideas that makes a difference.
What do you hope for in the future for yourself and Veteran’s Community Project?
我希望退伍军人社区项目能够覆盖全国的每个社区。 到处都需要这种编程。 规模可能会改变，但需求无处不在。
What advice do you have for students who’d like to follow in your footsteps?
对于任何试图为问题创造解决方案的人，我会告诉他们听取利益相关者的意见。 Don’t assume your solution is correct without first discussing it with those who will be impacted by it.
你最喜欢的威尼斯人娱乐城记忆是什么？
在法学院的第一天，所有的一年级学生都聚集在同一个房间里。 当某些短语出现在学生身上时，他们被要求站起来。 For example, “stand if you have more than 5 siblings” or “stand if you own a pet.” Eventually, we were asked to “stand if you don’t even know if you want to be a lawyer”, so I stood up. 我是唯一站着的人。 Apparently, most people don’t attend law school without the intention to be a lawyer.
威尼斯人娱乐城如何为你的成功做好准备/做出贡献？
威尼斯人娱乐城一直提醒我，总有更多的东西需要学习。 For example, while in pursuit of my Masters, I took a class in leadership. I served five years in the Marine Corps and lead other Marines in two different combat deployments, I attended the first day of class confident there wasn’t anything I could learn on leadership from a classroom I didn’t already know from personal experience. 我错了。 这门课仍然是我最喜欢的课程之一，我仍然会重温一些材料来复习。
关于校友奖
和我们一起在下午6点的现场庆祝活动中向迈耶和其他2022届获奖者致敬。 4月29日，詹姆斯·c·奥尔森表演艺术中心。 To register, 访问澳门大学校友会网站. If you are unable to attend the event but would like to donate to student scholarships, 捐款可以在网上进行.