Yale Law School’s Growing Veteran Community is Guided by Mottos of Service
Yale Law School’s military community continues to grow. Since 2017, the number of veterans and service members has expanded from just 1% of the incoming class to over 9% of the new J.D. class of 2027. In the first-year class alone, there are 19 veterans and service members representing various branches of the military. Approximately 45 students across the J.D. population this year are receiving Veterans Affairs benefits.
“We could not be more thrilled to see our veteran community grow and flourish at Yale Law School,” said Dean Heather K. Gerken, who has made supporting veterans a core priority of her deanship. “Our student veterans and service members have made enormous sacrifices for our country, and their presence makes Yale Law School a far better place. I am grateful for their leadership, their seriousness of purpose, and their ability to work with people from different backgrounds and perspectives. We are lucky to have so many veterans in our midst, and I hope they feel welcomed and supported at every step of the way.”
Our student veterans and service members have made enormous sacrifices for our country, and their presence makes Yale Law School a far better place. I am grateful for their leadership, their seriousness of purpose, and their ability to work with people from different backgrounds and perspectives.”
—Dean Heather K. Gerken
The boost in veterans on campus is a result of recruiting efforts and participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program, which helps veterans pay for tuition and fees not covered by the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Veterans and service members on campus have served in every branch of the military and bring that wide range of experiences and expertise to the legal field. The Law School has also worked to build community among the veteran population and ensure students have the resources and support they need while on campus and in their future careers.
Each branch of the military has a motto emphasizing service before self. At Yale Law School, veterans and active service members illustrate these mottos in their work — and after they graduate, as they change the legal field for the better. Soon after they joined the Law School community this fall, Yale Law School spoke with four first-year students with military experience to hear about their military careers, their goals for their time in New Haven, and the mottos that inspire their approach to service.
Kate Ahrens
Lt. Cmdr. Kate Ahrens ’27 has served with the U.S. Coast Guard for 14 years. A graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, she has a wide range of experience in engineering and exposure to the breadth of Coast Guard missions. After she pivoted to a program review position at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, D.C., she heard of a case of a sailor who, assaulted at sea, wasn’t covered by military protections. It spurred her interest in law school. “I thought, ‘The people making the biggest difference are the attorneys,’” she said.
Andras Deak
As a gunner’s mate with the U.S. Navy, Andras Deak maintained his ship’s weapons and supervised its combat systems. He also oversaw the command fitness operation. Sailors were required to pass biannual fitness tests to retain recommendations for promotion, said Deak, but maintaining fitness under deployment can be a challenge — particularly on small ships. “It was important to me for my coworkers and friends that they not lose their careers based on a fitness test,” he said. “Over the course of our deployment, 98% of the sailors assigned to the program ended up passing the fitness test. I took a lot of pride out of that, especially considering the demanding nature of being on a ship.”
Zac Cobb
The motto for the U.S. Air Force Special Warfare’s Pararescue is “These things we do, that others may live.” For Zac Cobb ’27, the phrase has deep personal meaning. Years before he enlisted, he was inspired by the example of Pat Tillman, the American professional football player who joined the Army following the 9/11 attacks and was later killed by friendly fire while serving in Afghanistan. As a Pararescueman, or PJ, Cobb was trained to conduct search and rescue operations in civilian and combat settings to help people “on the worst day of their lives.” A 2024 Tillman Scholar, Cobb hopes to honor Pat’s legacy of service and sacrifice. “At the end of the day, I love public service, and I’m committed to working hard on things that matter,” he said.
Jason Hug
Capt. Jason Hug, a joint degree student at Yale Law School and the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs, sees collaboration and kindness as critical foundations for leadership. While stationed in Germany, Hug was deployed to Afghanistan and participated in training exercises with the U.S. Army’s international partners. Both in a deployed setting, and as a platoon leader in Germany, he had to balance the individual skills of soldiers under his command against the larger goals of the mission. “My job was to help the whole team see that their individual specialty was necessary for the platoon to be successful,” said Hug.
