This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Catherine Barnao.

Students urged the University community not to overestimate the differences between veterans and other students in a panel hosted by fraternity Phi Kappa Psi and GW Vets Tuesday.

Lenaya Hezel, a graduate student, military spouse and employee in the GW Office of Veterans Services, joined student veterans Elena Kim, Tommy Davis and Alex Nesser to talk about troubles faced by veterans, from adjusting to civilian life to finding 0ff-campus housing.

“We’re all stricken by something devastating in our lives,” Nesser said, emphasizing the need for “peer-counseling” for both student veterans and civilians.

Kim similarly urged students to recognize that there is “no reason to shy away from each other.”

Geoff Ball, a member of Phi Kappa Psi and outreach director for GW Vets, moderated the night’s discussion. Ball, who will be commissioned into the Marines this summer, also received an award at the event recognizing his support for the national nonprofit Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors.

Ball said he hoped that students in attendance would leave with a “greater, more personalized understanding of what the last 10 years have meant to this country,” referring to the U.S.’s military mobilizations in the Middle East over the last decade.

President of Phi Kappa Psi Cameron Illes said the event, which is part of the chapter’s philanthropy week, gave members of the fraternity a better understanding of its continued support of military members.

“A lot of the time, [philanthropy week] is just a lot of fun and field days and just different events that don’t dig down into the meaning of the different causes that the money is being raised for,” Illes said.