Student veterans now have an answer.

The WSU Space Committee announced Monday morning the establishment of a temporary student veterans center to exist in Holland Library, with occupancy intended for January 2014. 

Dan Bernardo, space committee member, interim-provost and executive vice president, revealed Holland 120 as the two-year location for a 1,259 square foot student veterans center.  

“Our administration is committed to a high quality student experience for veterans at WSU and we think this student center is a critical piece to that,” Bernardo said.

He said the space committee prioritized hours and availability of facilities when searching for a place to house student veterans.

“Access was an important criterion because most of our buildings are closed on the weekends by probably 7 p.m. and we needed to find something that was a little more accessible,” Bernardo said.

For Bernardo, finding a location is step one in the vision to ensure student veterans succeed at WSU. It’s also about providing the proper services. Bernardo said 407 student veterans and 389 dependents are taking classes at WSU, according to fall 2013 enrollment numbers.

“The most important of those services is making sure veterans have access and obtain all of the benefits by the Federal Government,” he said.

Bernardo also said he hopes to see increased counseling services made available for military personnel. 

ASWSU All-Campus Sen. Travis Tran, a veteran himself, said he is satisfied with the new space, but still has his mind set on establishing a long-term solution.   

“This is a location that is a lot better than what we have right now, which is nothing,” Tran said. “I’m very happy; however, what we got to do now is we’ve got to work together on a plan on getting a permanent position.”

The space committee in the coming two years plans to find a final and stable spot on campus where veterans can congregate.

“We don’t view this as the permanent location of a veteran’s center necessarily, but it does provide us a two-year home until we can accommodate a better space,” Bernardo said.

Bernardo said the space committee is looking at a few permanent options on campus; however, they are occupied and the costs of renovation are high.

Renovation and providing student veterans with the appropriate amenities is in the works.

ASWSU has begun fundraising to purchase a refrigerator, coffee pots and an array of furniture to haul into the temporary veteran’s center.

The Student Veterans Committee is reaching out to the local veteran community in an effort to collect donations that would go toward funding such items.

“It’s one thing to get a space, but it’s another to make sure it’s correct and make sure all of the amenities are there,” said ASWSU Vice President Kevin Massimino.

Despite what Massimino called a victory of laying out the foundation of a veterans center, he said this is only the beginning of a multi-year mission.  

“We’re not done. This is much more than checking an item off a list, this is the first step of the process and we have a long way to go,” he said.

Blaine Golden, the new veterans coordinator in the Office of the Registrar, said the future is bright for student veterans at WSU.

 “Anything to get this project going is great and I’m just very appreciative of the university to provide this for the veterans,” Golden said.  

He said he is confident that one day there will be a permanent place on campus that veterans can call their own.

“We’ll make great use of this space while we have it and hopefully we’ll look for bigger and better things down the road,” Golden said.