Dionte Berry
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After retiring from the Navy in October 2021 and taking on the role as the Veteran Affairs coordinator during the spring 2022 semester, AJ Cunha said he wanted to make a space for military veterans and dependents.
The News talked with Cunha after he was hired in the spring, and he shared his plans for the space: updating the veterans’ lounge.
“What we’re trying to emulate is basically what a USO [United Service Organizations] office is,” Cunha said. “It’s a place in an airport where you can show your ID card, and you walk in and just relax in between flights.”
The work toward revamping the lounge started during June and finished at the beginning of the fall 2022 semester.
“Over the summer, we were able to obtain recliners and couches that offer great seating and good study spaces,” Cunha said. “We ordered four brand new Dell computers, a new printer with free printing for everyone that is service connected [and] a 70-inch [flat] screen TV and commissioned a mural representing all branches of service.”
A secondary space is also available as a conference room, where students can have privacy if they are doing group work or in Zoom meetings.
Plans also include a kitchen area with a microwave and a refrigerator with free snacks and beverages for student veterans and military dependents.
A prisoner of war and MIA table will be set up near the entrance of the lounge to honor missing comrades and prisoners of war.
“In the past, the lounge was only for traditional veterans,” Cunha said. “Now it is open to active duty, veterans and military dependents. About 65% of the students that we serve in this department are military dependents so our foot traffic has obviously increased.”
Beyond the lounge, Cunha and his team also are working to make contact with students who are military dependents, but may not be using VA benefits.
“If a student here is a dependent, but they’re not using VA benefits, we’re not tracking them because we don’t process anything for them,” Cunha said. “We made sure over the summer that we went to every race or orientation, which in the past had not been done, and every tabling event [that] has happened since the semester has started to capture more students who aren’t using benefits.”
Along with reaching out to prospective students, the VA Office wants to bring students on campus together by hosting monthly lunches.
The Office’s first lunch was their August Welcome Back Meal, which was sponsored by the Division of Student Affairs.
“As you walk in and go get your free meal, there is no obligation to stay,” Cunha said. “You can grab and go if you have class or if you have something else to do. We actually had some kind of hang around, and they got to know each other. A lot of relationships have already been built [into] friendships, which is pretty neat.”
All of the students who attended the August lunch were able to put their names into a drawing for a Sodexo gift card. The next meal will be provided on Sept. 15 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Cunha also plans to teach on campus about the struggles of military-connected students by offering Green Zone training.
“Green Zone training is a one-hour course that I teach,” Cunha said. “The course teaches faculty and staff about the inside of the mind of a veteran and military dependent and learn about things that they go through that others may not have ever been exposed to.”
Overall, Cunha said he wants to live up to Murray State’s reputation as a military-friendly school.
“Murray State is among the Top 10 most military-friendly schools in the South,” Cunha said. “That’s a big achievement.”
The VA lounge is open from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday-Friday in Room 444 in the Blackburn Science Building.