Citing a difficulty tracking students who had served in the armed services, Flathead Valley Community College unveiled a new veterans center this fall.

FVCC President Jane Karas, chairwoman of the American Association of Community Colleges, wrote a column for the Community College Journal where she discussed the college’s discrepancy between “self-identified” veterans who have taken a class in the past year (72) and the 128 students receiving some sort of Veterans Affairs education benefits.

“Not only is there a significant gap between those two pieces of data, but these numbers do not include our student veterans who have not identified themselves as veterans and are therefore not receiving veterans benefits,” Karas wrote.

The new center in FVCC’s Learning Resource Center Room 111 is a 360-square-foot safe place for veteran students of all ages to relax and do homework.

Along with the new center, the FVCC chapter of Student Veterans of America has been revived for the first time in more than a decade.

Mike Steppe, the club’s vice president and “public relations guy,” said the club fills a needed void. “We are starting from scratch here,” he said. “The last time it was really active was in the ’90s.”

Steppe, a Marine from 1991 to 1996, had his G.I. Bill expire and had to renew it for his studies at FVCC. Although he said everyone else does the work while he just “drinks the most coffee and talks the most,” he was filling an important role while club president Patrick Downing was waylaid with medical issues.

Sherry Taylor, veterans’ affairs and financial aid employee, has her office connected to the center. She said the center was a welcome addition to the campus.

“The Northwest has the highest concentration of veterans in the United States,” she said. “This is a nice little office for veterans’ needs. Sometimes they just need to get away.”

In her column, Karas referred to students who may have post traumatic stress disorder, vision issues, hearing loss or potentially even brain damage.

“In the classroom, we need to make our faculty aware of which students are veterans and the challenges they may face,” she wrote. “If our faculty is not aware of these potential issues, then our college is not positioned to provide the appropriate help to ensure our student veterans succeed in their studies.”

The center is not just for veterans suffering lingering effects from their time in the armed forces. All are welcome.

One member at a recent club meeting in the center was Amber Granzow. She is a sophomore senator at FVCC, served in the Air Force from 2005 to 2011 and now serves with the Montana Air National Guard. Granzow said the club is getting stronger every meeting.

“It’s been pretty productive,” she said. “We have good information trying to get everything rolling. We have had some good leaders step up.”

The center is in the former offices of The Mercury, FVCC’s student paper. The veterans received a $30,000 grant from the Montana Office of Commissioner of Higher Education to remodel the space.

“All the pieces just fell into place,” Taylor said. “It’s getting students more involved, more into their studies. They are so appreciative. They just love it.”

Tara Roth, FVCC’s director of communications and marketing, sat in on the most recent meeting.

“I just had the best vibe from this place,” she said. “The veterans make us proud here and we serve so many of them. We definitely want to make sure the community is aware of this place.”

Jim Soular, an English adjunct professor and writing lab instructor at FVCC, is a faculty adviser for the club as well as a veteran himself.  

Projects for the veterans include running a Toys for Tots drive in December, for which they will work with the theater department. Other proposed plans are a Veterans Day fundraiser, a Marine Corps birthday ball and the possible establishment of scholarship funds with help from the Kalispell Veterans of Foreign Wars.

The FVCC chapter of Student Veterans of America meets from 2 to 3 p.m. every Friday in the veterans center. All students who have served in the armed forces are welcome to attend.

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.