Barrington grad, retired Marine helps veterans with higher education
Ryan Pavel, a Barrington High School graduate and Marine Corps veteran, is providing veterans a path to academic success.
Pavel is CEO of the Warrior-Scholar Project, which provides such programs as academic boot camps to prepare veterans for the challenges of higher education.
The project works with approximately 20 college and university partners nationwide, including prestigious institutions like the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois, University of Notre Dame and Michigan State University.
Pavel has been with the project for 13 of the project’s 14 years, and recently earned the inaugural General Alfred M. Gray Jr. National Award for Service and Education from the Marine Corps University Foundation, presented on March 29 at the annual Semper Fidelis Award dinner near Washington, D.C.
“Helping Marines and other veterans realize they can achieve a college degree, or some form of continuing education, is a tremendous calling,” said Andrew Ammerman, president and CEO of the foundation.
Pavel knows what it’s like to be an enlisted veteran interested in higher education. His journey began after his rejection from the University of Illinois prompted him to enlist in the Marine Corps in 2004 at age 17. He served as an Arabic translator during two Iraq deployments between 2008 and 2010 before attending the University of Michigan.
The Warrior-Scholar Project’s academic boot camps require participants to go to a college campus to complete 75-80 hours of college-level work in a single week.
“It's really a confidence game, and it's about the skills to really succeed,” Pavel said. “How do you write a college essay? How do you read Alexis de Tocqueville's ‘Democracy in America’ and turn that into a college-level discussion?”
The results speak for themselves — approximately 90% of the participants complete their college degrees, compared to just 47% of enlisted veterans overall who pursue higher education.
Pavel attributes much of the program’s success to a “for us, by us” model, that utilizes around 30 program alumni yearly who are embedded with the students and serve as mentors.
Rather than providing scholarships, the project concentrates on helping veterans make informed choices about their education and maximize the education benefits they receive through the Veterans Affairs.
Pavel's has been CEO for six years. The organization has reached more than 2,500 veterans.
The award is named after a Marine Corps four-star general who died in March 2024. General Gray emphasized the importance of professional military education for the Marines and supported the Marine Corps University Foundation, which supports the Marine Corps University.
“It still feels surreal,” Pavel said about receiving the award. “When I got the call and learned that I was a finalist for it, it just kind of stopped me in my tracks. I have not been the recipient of anything like this before.”
He was even more stunned when he received the call informing him that he won and retired Gen. John Kelly would present him with it.
Highlights of the ceremony included sitting with the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S. and meeting Gary Sinise, whose foundation offers programs, services and events for wounded veterans.
“He was so down to earth. He’s exactly who you want him to be,” he said.
Pavel views the award as motivation to continue his work: “I need to use this award as a catalyst for more change, for more impact. I have an insatiable appetite for impact.”
“It's not just about the degree,” Pavel emphasized, “but about what you do with it. My challenge to everybody that goes through our program is to continue to lead, to continue to serve.”