Angelina College Launches New Veterans Service Center with Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Center to Provide Space for Student-Veterans and Connected Students
By GARY STALLARD
AC Office of Communications
Angelina College this week celebrated the opening of its new Veterans Service Center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring several distinguished guests, including numerous veterans.
The center is designed to provide a space for current AC student-veterans – along with military-connected family members – to connect, learn about available resources and form connections with fellow veterans.
Adriana Mosley, Coordinator of Veterans Services at AC, expressed her gratification for seeing the center’s original ideas become a reality.
“When we first began discussing creating a space for our veterans and military-connected students, we knew we wanted it to be more than just a room,” Mosley said. “We wanted it to be a place where students could come, feel welcomed, feel connections, find resources and know they have a community here at Angelina College.
“It’s so exciting to see this vision come to life.”
The center itself features a lounge, a wall displaying tributes to each branch of the military and a “Wall of Honor” representing current AC staff and faculty members who are veterans. Mosley has said she hopes to host numerous events allowing veterans and military-connected family members to “hang out” and bond.
“While today is about celebrating the space, I think what I’m most excited for is what’s to come with the space,” Mosley said. “I’m excited to see our students utilize this center, and I hope this becomes a place where friendships are formed and where our veteran students truly feel they have a place to come on campus.”
Michele Conner, Military Veteran Peer Coordinator at the Burke Center in Lufkin, has been working with Mosley since the plans first began forming.
“It’s been exciting to see this dream we’ve been working come to fruition,” Conner said. “I’ve seen it succeed in other colleges, and I’m excited that in our hometown, we get to see it happen here.
“Veterans are already stressed with everything we’re going through when we come home, and to have a place where we can work other veterans – and our children and spouses who are going to school as well – in a space where we can all come together and work with each other. We might have a situation going on, and one of our fellow veterans can help us overcome that situation.”
Conner added the plan to create peer groups at the center with the idea of joining younger and older generations of veterans in a collaborative effort.
AC president Dr. Michael Simon acknowledged the veterans in attendance, including AC students and employees.
“We’re so pleased to serve the veterans who come to Angelina College,” Simon said. “We have a lot of veterans on our staff and faculty, and we have a lot of veterans who choose Angelina College as their higher-education provider. We’re just thankful for this opportunity to serve them.”
Mosley added there are plans for the center’s growth, citing the desire to see “the relationships between our students, Angelina College and our community partners to continue to flourish.” Mosley mentioned the hope of bringing all available resources together to “strengthen these partnerships.”
“To our veterans and our military-connect students: This center is for you,” Mosley said. “We want you to use it, we want you to make it your own, but we also want you to help us build it into what it will become.”
For further information on the Veterans Services at Angelina College, contact Adriana Mosley at amosley@angelina.edu.
Photo captions:
Ribbon cutting photos:
Angelina College staff and faculty joined visiting dignitaries – including local veterans – for Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the launch of AC’s new Veterans Service Center, a space created for veterans and military-connected family members attending Angelina College. (Jessica Deel photo for AC Office of Communications)
Adriana Mosley:
Angelina College’s Coordinator of Veterans Services Adriana Mosley addresses the crowd during Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the launch of AC’s new Veterans Service Center, a space created for veterans and military-connected family members attending Angelina College. (Gary Stallard photo for AC Office of Communications)
Michele Conner:
Michele Conner, Military Veteran Peer Coordinator at the Burke Center in Lufkin, offers her comments on the significance of the newly opened Veterans Service Center at Angelina College. The center serves as a space created for veterans and military-connected family members attending Angelina College. (Gary Stallard photo for AC Office of Communications)
Crowd:
Visitors tour the inside of the newly opened Veterans Service Center at Angelina College following Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. The center serves as a space created for veterans and military-connected family members attending Angelina College. (Gary Stallard photo for AC Office of Communications)
Veterans Group:
Visiting veterans – including current Angelina College staff and faculty members – pose following Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the launch of AC’s new Veterans Service Center, a space created for veterans and military-connected family members attending Angelina College. (Jessica Deel photo for AC Office of Communications)