I'd stab a hobo (because that seems to be the cool thing to say right now) to be on a panel with Teufel. I'm flattered to be mentioned in even the same category as him.
See if the USMA or the academies in general would put together a panel of professors/scholars. Good exposure/press for their faculty and you're going to get engaged, expert, and experienced people able to really speak to veterans and potential officers (I'm assuming regional ROTC would be in the audience).
I'd be down for that. We've got a number of people here who are not only genuine SOF bad asses but are also legit, PhD-level academics who would have "street red" with both the veterans and the Ivory Tower crowd. Obviously I'm not in either of those categories but I could put something together for you. A good thing about asking active duty personnel or currently serving government officials is that they're not legally allowed to accept a speaking fee. The most you'd have to pay is their actual expenses.
Most "big names" will expect compensation for their time. Dartmouth is a great school; are there any alums who would do it as a labor of love?
Finally, why not jump in on something that someone else is already planning, organizing, funding, and executing? Every year for the last three years, Yale and West Point have partnered on a big civ-mil conference. The first one was at Yale and the last two were here at West Point. The next one will be at Princeton. What might be great for you guys at Dartmouth is if you bring a group to the Princeton event next year. You could probably get funding from the University to cover your expenses, you'd get a lot out of it, and you wouldn't have to organize or pay for it. Win-win. You'd also make some personal contacts that you could leverage for future events on your own campus. Links to this year's event (just concluded this past weekend):
Alumni-inspired conference at West Point will address challenges facing veterans
Yale-West Point Civ-Mil Service Symposium | Association of Yale Alumni
I guess the big question is, "what do you want to do?" If you just want something for the vets, a panel of active duty speakers might be your best bet. If you want to use the draw of a big name to create attention for your veterans' organization, then that will be a different animal altogether. I suggest you do the veterans' panel first in the fall, then do the Princeton event, and then in spring of next year, do something big at Dartmouth.
Happy to help with whatever you decide to do.
I bet you could also get Mike Flynn for really cheap right now
Oh damn, he went there.
