Our Military Services Center is celebrating the opening of its newly renovated student veterans lounge in the Polsky Building.
A grand opening celebration for the expanded Forward Operating Base (FOB) Polsky Veterans Lounge will take place Friday, April 19, from 10 to 11 a.m. in Polsky Building 313. The lounge is located in Room 320. The event is being hosted by UA’s Veterans Steering Committee. The celebration will include a Color Guard presentation by Akron Army ROTC and a ribbon cutting.
Those providing remarks during the grand opening will be Interim President Dr. John C. Green, Mary Rossett, director of UA’s Military Services Center; Daryll Mauder, student veteran and commander of American Legion Post 808; and Jay Musson, co-chair of UA’s Veterans Steering Committee, American Legion Post 808. Dr. Elizabeth Kennedy, co-chair of the Veterans Steering Committee and dean of the College of Applied Science and Technology, will serve as emcee. Musson, of the R.C. Musson And Katharine Musson Charitable Foundation, was a donor for the lounge.
University employees and students, and members of the community, are invited to attend. Representatives of Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge, and members of Peer Advisors for Veterans Education (PAVE) and Student Veterans of America will be in attendance.
“The expansion of the FOB Polsky Veterans Lounge further underscores the University’s commitment to serve its student veterans,” says Kennedy. “This renovation was completed to meet student demand for additional space to relax, study and enjoy the camaraderie with other veterans at UA. The Veterans Steering Committee is extremely grateful for the generous donation made by the R.C. Musson and Katharine Musson Charitable Foundation, which made this expansion possible. With the foundation’s assistance, we can continue to improve the lives of UA’s student veterans.”
The lounge is now almost three times larger than its original space. The renovated space opened last year in the fall, but was not fully completed until winter. Other veteran’s lounges on campus are located in InfoCision Stadium 324; Simmons Hall 305; the School of Law, second floor atrium, and on the Wayne College campus.
UA has more than 760 active duty and veteran students as of Fall 2017, and has consistently been labeled a “military friendly” university, most recently having been included on Military Times’ Best for Vets: College 2019 rankings. UA was the highest-ranked university in Ohio, placing 63rd on the list for four-year universities.
“The American Legion Post 808, Student Veterans of America, Peer Advisors for Veterans Education and the Military Services Center have set a very high standard nationally for being one of the most outstanding military friendly schools,” says Daryll Mauder, student veteran and commander of American Legion Post 808. “We especially learned this when we attended the National SVA Conference in Orlando in January. We are always contacted by other universities to find out how the University has become so successful in being military friendly. Expanding this lounge to service our veterans all over campus adds to that success.”
Media contact: Alex Knisely, 330-972-6477 or aknisely@uakron.edu.