A place for vets to call home

SDSU veterans get new center

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BROOKINGS – After several years of occupying space on a temporary basis on the South Dakota State University campus, the Veterans Affairs Resource Center is now at home in comfortable, functional and permanent facilities on the first floor of Brown Hall.

The move allows the Veterans Affairs Office and its resource center to be in one location. The Veterans Affairs Office had been in Spencer Hall before moving to Brown Hall.

In addition, veterans will have 24/7 access to the center, which has a study area as well as a place to watch TV or meet with their peers.

The previous facility averaged 30 visits a day for the spring 2017 semester. At that rate, the center could reach 4,200 visits – an increase of 900 when compared to spring 2016.

The Friday ribbon cutting ceremony began in Honors Hall before moving outdoors and then on to an open house and refreshments in Brown.

Presiding over the program before a standing-room-only audience of veterans, students, military personnel and SDSU dignitaries was Retired Army Sgt. 1st Class Russ Chavez, interim director for Veterans Affairs. He thanked those individuals and organizations who played a role in the VARC project. He also recounted the story of the various places on campus set aside to serve veteran students, who now have a truly dedicated place of their own.

Chavez had special words of praise and gratitude for Gene Goodale (SDSU class of 1957, civil engineering) and his wife JoAnne Goodale (class of 1959, nursing) who established a $1,000 renewable scholarship per year in honor of their son Mike.

Mike, an Army Ranger, was wounded in the Battle of Mogadishu (Somalia) in 1993. He was wounded and received a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Eighteen Rangers were killed and 70 were wounded. Somali casualties were in the hundreds.

Chavez called the scholarship “huge, because we didn’t have any scholarships whatsoever.”

And citing the Goodales, he added, “They live by what they thought their lives should be after leaving SDSU. That means paying it forward or giving it back. They live by it.” His words brought a round of applause for the couple.

Praise for predecessor

The first of three program speakers was Michaela Willis, vice president for Student Affairs, who spoke on behalf of SDSU President Barry Dunn and the university. Willis welcomed and thanked those in attendance for providing “strong support for our military, our veterans and our military associated students.”

She cited “just over 1,700 students at SDSU that we know about are tied to our military in some way, shape or form. That is why having a new Veterans Affairs Resource Center is so integral to our student community. We have strong ties to military vets that go back many, many years.

“Now you have a space that you can call home at SDSU,” Willis added. “We have an amazing student union that we often talk about as being the living room for South Dakota State University and for our students. Now we have a living room for our Veterans Affairs staff and our veterans and military associated students.”

She was “so thankful” for the VARC and recognized that there were a lot of people to thank for the facility.

Willis then noted that the project had started before she came to SDSU and singled out Doug Wermedal, who served as interim vice president for Student Affairs before she occupied the post, as responsible for bringing the project to fruition.

The second speaker, Spc. David Flanery, president of the Armed Forces Association and a wildlife and fisheries science major, thanked attendees for their support on behalf of the AFA, “the faculty and staff who were involved in pushing this through,” the AFA itself and The Home Depot for its $10,000 grant for the project.

The final speaker, representing The Home Depot, was PRO account representative Lana Schmidt. She thanked those behind the project for “allowing The Home Depot to be a part of the celebration.”

Finally, prior to moving outside for the ribbon cutting, former Army Capt. Phil Carlson, self-described as “an old grunt who loves music and is honored to share his love of music with us,” played a guitar and sang “8th of November,” about a 19-year-old soldier who “said goodbye to his momma as he left South Dakota to fight for the red, white and blue.” He went into battle in the jungle in Vietnam on Dec. 8, 1965.

An open house and reception in the new spaces in Brown Hall followed.

Chavez summed up the new VARC as a place for business tied to Veterans Affairs and for relaxation and study. He sees it as “a home away from home” and a “one-stop shop.”

An SDSU Marketing & Communications story contributed to this report.

Contact John Kubal at jkubal@brookingsregister.com.