Penn State’s $4 million Student Veteran Center nears completion
Penn State is set to unveil a portion of a new space Friday that gives veterans and service members a spot on campus devoted to fulfilling their needs.
Construction began in mid-February to transform the west wing of the first floor of the Ritenour Building into the Student Veteran Center. The $4 million project repurposed about 6,300 square feet into a lounge, study area and multi-use rooms.
The area is home to the university’s Office of Veteran Affairs and Services, and the Office of Veteran Programs, which provides assistance with GI Bill benefits, support programs and counseling. The remainder of the space is scheduled to open in April.
“It’s really nice to be a part of a community that is very supportive of our military community, as well as an institution that sees the value and really puts its money where its mouth is when it comes to things like, ‘Thank you for your service,’ ” Veterans Affairs and Services Senior Director Col. Eugene “McFly” McFeely said. “It’s a lot easier said than done, and Penn State puts ‘Thank you for your service’ into action. It’s nice to see.”
When McFeely started at the university in January 2017, he said President Eric Barron told him his “first priority” was to get the center functional.
Bringing all of the veterans’ services and programming into one, easy-to-access place will likely lead more students to take advantage of them. It helps to “build a sense of community for them,” McFeely said.
“Most of the successful programming that is put on for student veterans has an element of peer-to-peer support or mentoring in it,” McFeely said. “Having the veterans’ center gives us a location where we can build that peer-to-peer community and then build upon it.”
It also allows the university to bring in outside resources, like the DuBois Vet Center, to engage with University Park’s about 850 military-affiliated students — those actively serving, veterans or dependents of veterans.
“I’m really excited about the possibilities,” McFeely said. “We have a space that is dedicated to this community. What are the opportunities? What can we pull in for services and programming?”
The university committed $2 million to the project, while the rest needed to be fundraised. About $1.2 million has been raised, which leaves about $800,000 until their goal is met, McFeely said.
Those interested in donating can contact McFeely or the university’s development office.
“We want to make it as easy as possible for anybody to help if they want to help,” McFeely said. “If they want to send up a smoke signal, I’ll figure out a way to intercept that and translate that into a donation.”