The University of Missouri-St. Louis currently has over 120 clubs and organizations in its domain. They are about to open their little 120+ club family to one more.
The university plans on instituting an organization based around and for the veterans of the school. The idea began with Anna Beck and Benjamin Miller, who wanted to create the club to recognize and give social support to veterans that attend UM-St. Louis. Both had served in the U.S. Army for four and six years, respectively. They started the idea separately, but merged together as a team to complement what each had started.
“Basically, what we’re trying to do is have a social network of veterans that served in combat arms. Basically, just get together because we all have a shared common bond,” Beck, senior, business administration, said.
Another goal of the club involves altruistic affairs.
“Mainly, the reason I wanted to start this organization was also to give back to the organizations like the USO (United Service Organization), Veterans Foreign War American Legion, and possibly the VA,” Miller, sophomore, secondary education, said.
The Veterans Student Organization (VSO) already has plans for the future, including a trivia night fundraiser at Hot Shots where the proceeds of the event will be donated to the USO. The club also has set some short and long term goals.
“Short term, each semester, we do want to give back to the community, like, you know, with the USO trivia night, and do another couple fundraisers possibly. We do want to do stuff with UMSL, you know, with the Relay for Life and Mirthday and stuff like that,” Beck said.
“Long term, we do want to have, like Mizzou, from what I understand, they have their own veterans building for all veterans. They have this program set up where as soon as you enroll in school and you’re a veteran [you are taken care of]. That’s what we’d like to do, but you know getting everything started this semester, it’s still hazy on that,” Beck said.
Although the organization is not authorized quite yet, unofficial meetings have taken place for the past month and a half. The group now has a total of 34 members, with an average ranging from 10-15 that attend meetings regularly. A diverse range of the military are involved, including that of rangers, 82nd Airborne, and Army Special Operations.
The VSO already encompasses a cabinet, including Beck as the president and Miller as vice-president. Also on the board are Joseph Gomez, SGA correspondent, Jason Mazdra, treasurer, and Jeff Aiken, secretary.
“I think it’s a pretty unique idea,” Jessie Bridges, administrative associate, criminology department, said. “I actually think there should be something extra special when you see a veteran, if you’re on campus going through services and you’re in line, I think we need to stop and say ‘Hey, you. Come up here, we can take care of you’ because they take care of us, let us take care of you.”