Campus News

UK Student Veterans Association Awarded $10,000 for New Veterans Center

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 6, 2015) — The University of Kentucky Student Veterans Association has been awarded a $10,000 grant from Home Depot and Student Veterans of America (SVA) to fund the UK Veterans Resource Center.

Since 2008, SVA has helped those returning from military service obtain the resources, support and advocacy needed to achieve success in higher education and after graduation.

The UK Student Veterans Association is a nonprofit organization serving the student veteran community by working with the Veterans Resource Center, Veterans Resource Team and Student Government Association in order to facilitate the needs of nontraditional students. The group assists in promoting morale, welfare and success of the veterans and military families within the UK campus community.

The grant will be used to enhance the construction of a new Veterans Resource Center.

"This is a great accomplishment and speaks to the professionalism and motivation of our student veteran organization," said Anthony Dotson, Veterans Resource Center coordinator. "The $10,000 from the SVA and Home Depot will be used to put finishing touches on our new center."

"This is the first time that UK’s chapter has ever applied for the VetCenter Initiative sponsored by the Student Veterans of America and the Home Depot, so we are thrilled to have received one of their larger grants," said Jessica Wilson, UK SVA chapter president.  "The application process took significant effort on the part of many of our student veterans, military members, and dependents to compile — and during finals week, nonetheless!  I think that is really indicative of the dedication we have to improving our center to ensure that anyone affiliated with the military has a positive experience here at the University of Kentucky."

The UK Student Veterans of America chapter supports the education of student veterans and the transition to college life. Find out more at www.uksva.org.

MEDIA CONTACT: Rebecca Stratton, (859) 323-2395; rebecca.stratton@uky.edu