Student veterans hope a crowdfunding campaign, combined with an anonymous matching donation, will help purchase $10,000 in furniture and equipment for the Veterans Resource Center (VRC).
The center, which is adjacent to the Administrative Services Building lobby, underwent a renovation last summer that included expanded office space, freshly painted walls, and new lighting, ceiling tiles and carpet.
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Now students and staff are seeking private funds to replace a hodgepodge of old and ill-fitting furnishings.
“We want to make it so students are proud to come into the center to relax and study in comfort,” said Zachary Mangas ’13, director of Veterans Resources. “This will really complete the renovation.”
Supporting the crowdfunding campaign is a matching pledge from two alumni. For every dollar donated, up to $10,000, they will give a matching dollar.
Among the proposed furnishings:
- Cupboards, counters, table and soft furniture in the lounge
- A private study/meeting space for up to three people
- New furniture for the large study/computer lab
- A sectional and ottoman for the meeting space in the director’s office
The $15,000 physical-space renovation was funded through student fees, state funding and a grant from the St. Cloud State Foundation, said Mangas.
Creating comfortable spaces in which students can gather is part of the tribe theory that has gained a foothold in high-education circles.
Author and former combat journalist Sebastian Junger argues in “Tribe” (Twelve, 2016):
Tribal society has been exerting an almost gravitational pull on Westerners for hundreds of years, and the reason lies deep in our evolutionary past as a communal species. The most recent example of that attraction is combat veterans who come home to find themselves missing the incredibly intimate bonds of platoon life.
Your donation can help student veterans maintain tribal bonds and succeed at St. Cloud State.
Give to the VRC crowdfunding campaign.
