10:50 a.m. July 24, 2013
Knoxville next stop for student veterans’ leader on 4,000 mile cross-country bicycle journey

KNOXVILLE -- She’s a college student who isn’t spending her summer taking classes or preparing for her future career through an internship. Instead, Kiersten Downs is embarking on a much different adventure: riding her bicycle across the country, nearly 4,000 miles, to benefit student veterans.

After starting in San Francisco in June, so far Downs has pedaled more than 2,500 miles, through more than half a dozen states, and will ride into Knoxville on Thursday, July 25.

Downs, an Iraq war veteran, is currently a PhD student in anthropology at the University of South Florida. Through her cross-country journey, Downs is raising money for Student Veterans of America, a national organization dedicated to providing veterans with the resources and support to make a successful transition from the military to campus life.

Her story was recently featured on MTV, MTV2, and mtvU. The segment, which includes a special appearance by “America’s Got Talent” host Nick Cannon, can be found at www.mtvu.com.

Downs expects to finish in Washington, DC, at the national headquarters of Student Veterans of America, in August.

Published July 24, 2013