Officials dedicated the G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery Center for America’s Veterans Saturday.
The Montgomery Center is located at 45 Magruder Street next to Hathorn Residence Hall. Following an open house at 10 a.m., veterans were also recognized before the final home football game through a fly-by salute and halftime presentation.
Mississippi State President Robert “Doc” Foglesong initiated the establishment of the Montgomery Center, which has been open and running for about two months.
Foglesong named the center in honor of close friend Sonny Montgomery, a late Mississippi congressman and Mississippi State alumnus. Montgomery was instrumental in establishing the GI bill, which provided college or vocational education for World War II veterans.
Montgomery Center director Andrew Rendon noted that through the GI bill, [Sonny] Montgomery affected the lives of millions of American veterans.
“We want to continue with the legacy of Sonny Montgomery and his unyielding support of student veterans,” said Rendon. “We’re proud to say that Sonny Montgomery was an alumnus of Mississippi State, and we hope to build on his legacy.”
Rendon, a Mississippi State alumnus and Starkville native, assumed the position of director about two months ago when the center opened. A Blackhawk helicopter pilot and Army Reserve captain, Rendon was also a veteran of the Balkan peacekeeping force.
Part of Rendon’s responsibilities as director include working on different programs and trying to set up research opportunities.
“Our theme is ‘build as we recruit’,” Rendon said. “I’ve been going out and meeting with centers of influence people who can help establish and build the programs.”
Rendon has also met with the state legislature and Congress. He is working with them in hopes to have the Montgomery Center established as an educational and research base at Mississippi State.
Lorene Cox, veterans administration supervisor, said she is excited about having the Montgomery Center because it will make it easier to help veterans. She said that before the founding of the Montgomery Center, resources were limited. Having the center will enable her and others to better identify and serve the needs of veterans.
Cox and Rendon compared the Montgomery Center to Student Support Services with a veteran emphasis. Veterans interested in coming back to school, currently in-rolled in school or starting school for the first time since active duty can go to the center and take surveys to help the Montgomery Center staff figure out their specific needs. The surveys will help veterans find things that they are eligible for in order to assist them in their education.
“We’re able to identify the needs of veterans and better help them,” Cox said. “I’m honored to be able to help them.”
“Veterans need to understand that we’re their advocate,” Rendon said. “This center is to provide and listen to issues: to support, instruct, refer and do our best to resolve.”
Student veteran William Brooks, a junior majoring in political science, said that Mississippi State currently has over 300 veterans and noted that the Montgomery Center is a good place for the veterans to get together and meet one another. Brooks, a bilateral above-knee amputee, was injured in March 2005 in Iraq when his humvee hit an IED.
Rendon mentioned that they are trying to form a student veterans organization but are still working on the details of it. He said that he wants the group to focus on interaction and becoming and being college students and getting back into civilian life.
Brooks said he hopes that the organization will reach out to other veterans organizations, especially those with older members who physically cannot do things like blood drives and other service projects.
He said he wants the organization to focus on serving the community and showing the university and others that the veterans still want to serve.
“I want to make this university as attractive to veterans as possible,” Brooks said.
Rendon said that the Montgomery Center hopes to attract student veterans to Mississippi State, take care of them while they attend school and prepare them for the civilian world.