Person of the Week: Jim Wright

May 25, 2007 — -- Jim Wright is the president of Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., an esteemed academic institution that is well over 200 years old. Wright, however, wasn't always an academic. He used to be a Marine, and his military background inspired his recent work with the American Council on Education.

Wright has raised $350,000 with the council to hire college counselors for three of the largest military hospitals in the United States.

"Going to college was not something that I considered. No one in my family had ever done that. Four friends and I joined the Marines a couple of weeks after we graduated. It was my way of putting off going to work in the mines. I got out of the Marines and decided to go to college."

Wright believes that the members of the Dartmouth community -- himself included -- are privileged to have the opportunities given to them, and that with privilege comes responsibility.

For Wright, that responsibility became clear after the battle of Fallujah.

"I watched on television the accounts of what these young Marines were engaged in and I got to thinking: What can we do about all of these young men and women who are being injured over there?"

So Wright visited wounded Marines at Bethesda Naval Hospital to talk to them about their futures, and the possibility of starting over and going to college. He soon realized that injured soldiers and Marines who want to go to college face challenges that are unusual for most prospective students.

He explained, "By the second visit or so, I realized they had questions and it was not clear where they could get the answers -- if I go to this school near home, because I don't have any legs, are there elevators in all of the buildings?"

With the help of the American Council on Education and the $350,000 they have raised, college counselors at the three largest U.S. military hospitals are answering some of those questions. They offer advice about academic institutions and online courses, depending on the needs and circumstances of the soldiers and Marines they meet.