Veterans Center receives high honor

WCC department connects, supports students

Yana Mcguire

Staff Writer

The Wadhams Veterans Center, located on the second floor of the student center, received its seventh consecutive gold-level veteran-friendly honor, awarded by the Michigan Veterans’ Affairs Agency in September 2024. This highest honor is given to colleges with outstanding contributions to the veteran community. In addition, the center received its first national silver-level military-friendly honor. 

Veterans and military-connected students can use the center’s lounge area to access computers, have a place to study and meet fellow service members in a friendly atmosphere. The center primarily serves as a liaison between the students and WCC resources, helping them connect their benefits with the school.

One resource students may find helpful is access to short-term counseling to help them transition into civilian campus life. If long-term help is needed, the center has an assigned VA Medical Center worker that can help escalate the VA appointments needed, according to Carol Osborne, WCC manager of military and veteran services.

There are roughly 400 to 600 Veteran or military-connected students enrolled each semester with about half of them using their benefits, according to the Veterans Center. Even if a student is not using their benefits at WCC, Osborne still encourages students to drop by the office and get involved. 

“We do a lot of things here on a monthly and semester basis that we would love to see more veterans that aren’t using their benefits [to be a part of],” Osborne said. “We do a Vet Fest every summer and that is huge. We have landed two helicopters here in the last two years and last year we brought in the Michigan National Guard.” 

Kayla Lugo, veteran support staff and WCC alumni, serves as a mentor to current students. She enjoys sharing tips that helped her be successful as a student and connecting students with the classes that are most interesting to them. Lugo also credits the center’s connection between student groups and the veteran community outside WCC, like the American Legions, in helping aid students. 

“We have a student club here called Veterans Adventure League,” Lugo said. “They connect veterans with tabletop gaming, such as Magic the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons. It has been here for one semester and is super successful.”

If you are interested in finding out more, please visit SC 206 Call 734-477-8560, or email veterans@wccnet.edu

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