The University of Kansas received a $9,821 grant from the Student Veterans of America and The Home Depot Foundation to help furnish its new Student Veteran Center.
The grant is part of the SVA’s Vet Center Initiative, which offers campus chapters across the nation a chance to compete for up to $10,000 to build or renovate a veteran center. The KU chapter’s application was one of 50 selected to receive a grant this year.
“I applaud our KU Student Veterans of America chapter leadership and members for their work to help our campus receive this grant,” said April Blackmon Strange, Student Veteran Center and SVA adviser. “Thanks to their efforts, our center will become a more inviting space for military-connected students.”
Currently under construction, the KU Student Veteran Center is scheduled to open in January 2017 and will serve as the university’s one-stop shop for military-connected students. In addition to having staff available to assist students with VA benefits and other questions, the center will provide opportunities for students to study and connect with peers. It will feature a lounge, meeting and tutoring rooms, as well as offices for support staff and dedicated space for the KU SVA.
Founded in 2008, the KU SVA chapter, formerly called the KU Collegiate Veterans Association, is a nonpartisan group of college-based veterans, service members and supporters dedicated to supporting veterans and their families.
“We were ecstatic to learn that we received the grant,” said J.R. Cadwallader, KU’s SVA chapter president and a KU student veteran. “The grant money from The Home Depot Foundation and SVA will be an immense help in creating the kind of environment in the new student veteran center that will ensure the success of the SVA and the center’s core mission, which is to aid veterans in the successful transition into academia and their future careers.”
For more information on the Student Veteran Center and the KU Student Veterans of America, visit veterans.ku.edu.
