The University of Mary Washington has created a Veterans Resource Center, a space dedicated to assisting those on campus with ties to the military.
For David Helgran, a biology senior and Marine sergeant, the brief ceremony Monday for the schools tight-knit community of veterans was the culmination of a years work.
When I first [enrolled], I was taking classes over the summer and I was confused about my G.I. Bill [education] benefits, he said, so I asked who the VA liaison was, and the school said Well, we dont have one. And when I asked who the G.I. Bill coordinator was, they said We dont really have that, either.
After a meeting with faculty, Helgran began increasing awareness of fellow student vets by establishing the UMW Association of Student Veterans.
We basically worked for the better part of a year to get the word out, he said. We wanted to strike while the iron was hot.
Jeremy Hillberry, the associations current president, officially opened the center, located in the basement of Combs Hall, with the assistance of UMW President Rick Hurley.
Hurley, an Army veteran himself, said the center would allow veterans a formal space to gather, share stories and discuss concerns.
I think many of us werent aware about the number of vets in attendance here, Hurley said. Once they established a presence, we moved as quickly as possible.
Education benefits for veterans and their dependentsspouses and/or childrendepend on a veterans length of service and when they left the military. The same holds true for when, or if, these benefits expire.
UMW Director of Leadership Golda Eldridge, who is a retired Airman, said the space will provide information and support to students who are veterans, as well as anyone in the UMW community with a relation or interest in the military.
The next step, Eldridge said, is coordinating with the Department of Veterans Affairs for a work-study program geared toward students receiving education benefits from the VA.
Senior Michael Todd, a retired master sergeant who went back for his bachelors in physical geography after 27 years in the Marine Corps, said the center was a great addition to the campus.
I happened to be here at a good time, he said.
Todd later likened the center, which is still in the process of being redecorated by the association, to USO offices in airports.
More times than not, the people in that office have been through the same thing I have, he said, and that brings me a bit more comfort.
