From adversity to advocacy, Tillman Scholar works for justice for veterans
Eric Sowers 1 of 60 U.S. service members, veterans and military spouses chosen
Eric Sowers, The Ohio State University’s 11th Tillman Scholar, was inspired by the scholarship’s namesake and his call to service following 9/11.
Pat Tillman, the NFL-star-turned-Army Ranger, walked away from a lucrative professional football career to join the elite unit following the 2001 terror attack. Sowers was a Columbus high school student at the time, felt the same call to service and enlisted at the earliest opportunity – he wanted to join the Army at 16.
“They told me to come back in another year. I came back when I was 17, signed up in the delayed entry program and once I completed high school in 2004, I left for the Army”
“When I went to the recruiter’s office, he was like, ‘Well, what do you want to do?’ I just wanted to serve with Pat Tillman. That’s all I knew. I wanted to be an airborne ranger. Unfortunately, he was killed in action, so that never came to fruition.”
Through his work as a paralegal, Sowers met other veterans who had established careers in social work, and it shifted his focus. Ohio State was his dream school, and he applied for the Master of Social Work program – but he kept getting turned down.
After his application was turned down a third time, Sowers worked to get an in-person meeting with college admissions.
“I just wanted to know, what do I have to do to make Ohio State like me enough to let me be a student?” he said.
Once again in his life, Sowers’ persistence paid off. He explained how his experience as a veteran and his desire to understand and improve the systems supporting veterans would benefit the program and his career as a student. It worked and he was admitted into the program.
Now a PhD candidate in the College of Social Work, Sowers continues to live up to that commitment. He has helped develop and support federal legislation for veterans including the Veterans Justice Outreach Improvement Act and STRONG Veterans Act. He serves the university’s military-connected community as a Military Community Advocate and was president of the Student Veterans Association.
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