ASU Veterans Alumni Chapter salutes service with challenge coins

Salute to Service Week at Arizona State University provides an opportunity to shine a spotlight on those who put service above self in both their professional and personal lives.

And for the ASU Veterans Alumni Chapter, this week helps boost scholarship fundraising for ASU student veterans through a unique funding opportunity: challenge coins.

The ASU Veterans Alumni Chapter has created its own military challenge coin in an effort to raise money for its scholarship program, as well as celebrate service in all branches of the U.S. armed forces.

While coins are available for purchase online year-round, people will have the opportunity to purchase a coin in person during the Salute to Service tailgate on Nov. 18. The Veterans Alumni Chapter will also sell the coins in person during the fall Veteran Stole Ceremony on Dec. 9.

“It’s kind of a collector's keepsake, but it has tradition behind it,” said Kyle Irwin, the chapter’s president. "We use it as our primary funding tool.”

Irwin, who’s been a chapter member since 2014, said the group has been implementing challenge coins for more than seven years now.

“We’re not really seeking benefit out of it — we just wanted to contribute to the university and to the veteran population. Any extra proceeds help us maintain the Memorial Wall that’s located in the basement of the Memorial Union right next to the Pat Tillman Veterans Center.”

The Memorial Wall, on the Tempe campus, honors fallen alumni and is dedicated to the ASU men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country during times of conflict.