The Center for Adult and Veteran Services held an open house Sept. 13 to reach out to student veterans, hoping to create a bonding space and foster ideas for the Veterans Club this year.

A student veteran is any person, student or staff member, that has served in the military or who currently serves, said Scott Crawford, the program coordinator of CAVS.

Most veterans are considered adult students, being over the age of 21 and attending the university as freshmen.

“We only have maybe 400 or so people we’d actually call veterans on the Kent main campus, so they’re not going to see each other a lot,” Crawford said. “They’re probably not on campus as much as your traditional student.”

Crawford made a comparison between a veteran who is 40 years old meeting a veteran who is 20 years old. They will have that common shared experience of serving and the age difference then becomes irrelevant.

“I think it’s a time when you feel a little bit alone or isolated,” Crawford said. “We can get people together to bond over some common experiences.”

“I’m here to see other veterans,” said Jean Kim, a senior English major and Army veteran.

Kim is already a member of the Veterans Club. He hopes to advertise the club around campus to recruit new members.

The Veterans Club has been a part of Kent State since 1944, according to the university website. 

“It’s been up and down over the years and we’re trying to bring that back up,” Crawford said. 

Crawford said he hopes the club will gain new membership and become more active on campus. 

“In terms of the Veterans Club, we’ll decide who is in direction of service projects or maybe it will be more of a social organization where people can be in a community and use each other for resources,” Crawford said.

The CAVS office handles paperwork and the processing of veteran students’ GI Bill, as well as helps them get their stipends and, in some cases, their tuition payments. CAVS offers advice on the best way to go about using military-provided benefits.

Although they do not work directly with the Veteran’s Administration, the CAVS office works as a liaison, advising students to help find someone to talk to about whatever needs they may have.

After four years spent in the Marine Corps, Kelden Delvecchio, a junior biology major, now works at the CAVS office. He found out about the club via Facebook.

“They make my time easy,” Delvecchio said, referring to all the paperwork needed to get veteran students situated on campus.

“Today was to ask people what they want to do,” Crawford said about the open house. “Some things, we want to say, ‘Hey, we think you should be a part of this,’ and other things we want to say, ‘What do you think you should be a part of?”

The CAVS office is located on the first floor of the Schwartz Center. Interested students are encouraged to email Scott Crawford at [email protected].

Logan Lutton is the science reporter. Contact her at [email protected]