43
YSU explores the viability of veterans center
By Denise Dick
Youngstown
Youngstown State University trustees took an initial step to creating a veterans center on Wick Avenue.
Trustees at their regular meeting Friday approved a resolution to “explore the viability of raising sufficient funds to build” the center where the Peck House, which was demolished last month, stood.
The board also approved a new master of arts degree in gerontology and welcomed new student Trustee Melissa M. Wasser, a philosophy major and graduate of McDonald High School.
Wasser and James B. Greene were sworn in as trustees after their appointments by Gov. John Kasich.
Greene of Canfield, a retired executive from Compco Industries, will serve a nine-year term. Wasser’s term is for two years.
The resolution establishing the gerontology master’s degree said “there has been an increasing demand to deliver expertise, research and services to a growing older population in the region...”
In 2010, the YSU veterans council, comprised of campus and community representatives, requested establishment of a veterans center.
In 2009, YSU established the Office of Veterans Affairs to address concerns of veterans, provide a place where they feel welcome on campus, ensure veterans succeed academically and assist in recruitment and retention of veteran students. That came as a result of the post-9/11 GI Bill that provides support for educating 2 million military service members who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The estimated cost of the two-floor, 3,000-square-foot building is $750,000, and the university plans to launch a fund-raising campaign to pay for it.