The Mission Continues
Steeped in history, and boasting Tennessee’s top student-veteran support center, MTSU ranks among the nation’s most militaryfocused universities
CHARLIE AND HAZEL DANIELS VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILY CENTER
Middle Tennessee State University Summer 2024 / Vol. 4, No. 1
Director, Charlie and Hazel Daniels
Veterans and Military Family Center
Hilary Miller
Senior Advisor for Veterans and Leadership Initiatives
LTG(R) Keith M. Huber, U.S. Army
Senior Editor
Drew Ruble
Associate Editor
Carol Stuart
Senior Marketing Director
Kara Hooper
Art Director
Keith Dotson
Designer
Micah Loyed
University Photographers
James Cessna, Andy Heidt, J. Intintoli, Cat Curtis Murphy
Contributing Editor
Nancy Broden
Contributing Writers
Skip Anderson, Patsy Weiler
University President Sidney A. McPhee
University Provost
Mark Byrnes
Vice President of Marketing and Communications
Andrew Oppmann
Correspondence should be sent to JOURNEY Magazine, Drew Ruble, 1301 E. Main St., MTSU Box 49, Murfreesboro, TN 37132 860 copies
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The Perfect Example
An Air Force veteran, military spouse, mother, and full-time grad student, Maranda Vecchio clearly comprehends selfless service and sacrifice
A Shout of Approval
BRAVO president leads student vet org to new heights and record enrollment
On the Front Lines
Steeped in history, and boasting Tennessee’s top student-veteran support center, MTSU ranks among the nation’s most military-focused universities
True Blue Traditions
MTSU and the Daniels Center host and participate in several events geared toward veterans and student veterans that further emphasize the University’s deep commitment to its military legacy
Iconic Support
Some of Tennessee’s iconic and big-name brands back veterans through MTSU’s Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center
Cover illustration by Micah Loyed
On July 6, 2020, we lost an icon of music and philanthropy in Country Music Hall of Famer Charlie Daniels.
We did not see it coming. He had not been sick. He hadn’t slowed down. In fact, prior to the pandemic, Mr. Daniels was on track to perform a record number of concerts in 2020.
Like everyone who loved and admired Mr. Daniels, we had not imagined a future without him.
At all times, we at the Daniels Center are aware that Charlie and Hazel’s names are literally on the front door. Their commitment to caring for the military is a constant reminder to always do more than is needed.
Not too long ago, Charlie Daniels Jr. wrote an article about accepting the Merle Haggard Spirit Award on his father’s behalf. He wrote that when he was on stage himself, the lighting often would cast a shadow from his own hat that made it appear that his father was standing nearby wearing his iconic cowboy hat. He wrote that he was comforted to know that Charlie Sr. was still with him.
I was moved by that story, and that’s the image I hoped to capture on the cover of this Journey magazine. The message? Just like Mr. Daniels’ continuing impact on the world through his music and charity, we too are continuing the mission to grow how we assist military people, wherever they reside in the world.
At the time of Mr. Daniels’ passing, we were experiencing a worldwide health crisis. Looking back, I am most proud of our availability and adaptability during that strange time.
AN ONGOING DUTY
We did not close the Daniels Center for even one day during the pandemic.
Part of our challenge, especially then, was to ensure that people understood that we serve EVERYONE in the military community—veterans, current service members, dependents and spouses, JROTC and ROTC cadets, MTSU students, and those unaffiliated with MTSU.
This unrestricted mission has not changed since we opened the center’s doors on Nov. 5, 2015. But it was vitally important that this message was communicated during those lockdown days. We needed our community to know we were open and had resources to share beyond MTSU. We refocused our efforts on fundraising and distributed more than $100,000 to veterans and family members during that period.
We further leaned in to connecting veterans with their Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits. We now routinely host VA PACT Act workshops both for the community and for companies bringing in their veterans as a group. We have become a field office for the Tennessee Department of Veterans Services and have a Veterans Service Officer (VSO) stationed in the Daniels Center. We have hired a second person to assist military-connected people with employment.
The bottom line: We are proud to be part of the legacy of Mr. Daniels. We will always keep moving forward, trying to expand our (and his) reach.
Hilary Miller, Ed.D., Daniels Center Director
The Nashville Predators pro hockey club, in concert with Bridgestone Arena, helps raise money for The General’s Fund at MTSU.
The fund supports military-connected students who struggle financially to reach their higher education and career goals.
To support the fund, text PREDS4MTVets to 41444 on your mobile phone, or visit the MTSU Foundation website at mtsu.edu/give.
THE PERFECT EXAMPLE
Photo by James Cessna
EXAMPLE
An Air Force veteran, military spouse, mother, and full-time grad student, Maranda Vecchio clearly comprehends selfless service and sacrifice by Patsy B. Weiler
Veteran Maranda Vecchio gave birth to her second daughter after starting MTSU’s Physician Assistant Studies program.
IIt was a bit surreal. A goosebumps moment. A day MTSU graduate student and U.S. Air Force veteran Maranda Vecchio had worked so doggedly to achieve. Yet, there she was, slipping her arms into a professional white coat—an important milestone on the challenging road to fulfilling her tightly held dream of becoming a physician assistant. The garment outwardly signaled that she had successfully completed her classroom studies and was prepared to start clinical training.
The Cannon County native and Woodbury resident is one of just 30 students in the University’s inaugural 27-month Physician Assistant Studies (PA) master’s degree cohort, which began in May 2022 and graduates in August 2024. Quite an accomplishment, considering nationwide only about 20% of students from thousands of applicants who apply to PA school are accepted.
During the August 2023 “white coat” ceremony, it is safe to say, Vecchio had myriad thoughts and emotions swirling in her head.
“I worked so hard to get here,” said Vecchio, who at 35 is about a decade older than most PA students but undaunted by the gap. “I feel like being a little bit older, I have good life-balancing skills. There were times when I studied until midnight in the Walker Library, drove home to Woodbury [about 20 miles away], and was back up by 5:30 a.m. to start my family’s day.”
Vecchio specifically highlighted one important ingredient in helping her find success: “My military background provided me with grit, resiliency, and a determination to be successful.”
A Helping Hand
The mother of two young daughters is quick to explain the important role the MTSU Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center played in helping her access veterans educational benefits that she had earned and that she needed for her PA program.
The Daniels Center is the most comprehensive veterans facility on any Tennessee higher education campus and provides services for over 1,200 military-connected students and family members. It is a resource for any veterans and their families, not just those at MTSU.
Often during her educational journey, Vecchio said, she felt like she was walking along a winding (and frustrating) yellow brick road—only the Oz she was trying to find was someone to listen and explain the refusals she kept receiving regarding her military educational benefits.
Not easily deterred, Vecchio took out a student loan to begin her studies while struggling to secure her benefits; but she was not going to give up on what she knew was rightfully hers.
“I am very competitive, and it was hard for me to hear the word ‘no,’ ” Vecchio said. “It was baffling to keep going in circles. I already knew I was entitled to my benefits, and I was going to fight for them. I kept being told ‘We won’t pay for MTSU
because it is a new physician assistant program and not accredited’—but MTSU was accredited. I made up my mind to somehow get to the bottom of the confusion.”
While on campus, the new PA student had heard about the work of the Daniels Center but was hesitant to reach out for help. She didn’t want to rehash previous attempts to resolve her benefits snafu. Instead, she volunteered at the center.
Hilary Miller, Daniels Center director, recalls when she first met Vecchio and how she was impressed with her servant spirt.
“Maranda, at heart, is someone who is always giving,” Miller said. “We met her when she was initially coming into our offices to volunteer, but then we learned she was having some issues with her benefits.
“She had been through multiple appeals for nearly four years, had a folder stuffed with paperwork that was an inch thick, was starting a demanding new area of study and 8½ months pregnant—yet was somehow always willing to try to carve out time to help the Daniels Center.”
Her tenacity was evident when Vecchio gave birth 10 weeks into her PA training to her second daughter.
In quick order, the expectant mother (who likes to tell people there were really 31 people in MTSU’s first PA class) found herself in a meeting with Miller; Army LTG(R) Keith M. Huber, MTSU’s senior advisor for veterans and leadership initiatives; and Marie Patterson, director of the PA program.
Not familiar with the Daniels Center’s focus of freely helping veterans and their families, Vecchio remembers wondering how much she was going to be charged.
The answer, of course, is nothing.
“The Daniels Center didn’t know me. Everyone listened carefully, took my issue, and made it their own. They treated me like I was family,” Vecchio said with a wide smile. “General Huber took it into his hands, and in a matter of two weeks I was reimbursed with all my money.”
The problem, it seems, boiled down to an information management oversight. The glitch was the result of a website that had not been updated to include Tennessee colleges with new PA programs.
These days, Vecchio is at the ready and eager to tell the story of the Daniels Center’s work.
“Veterans should know they are going to take care of you and respect you. The team at the Daniels Center does amazing work and saves so much heartache and stress for the veterans,” she said. “Dr. Miller’s door is always open.”
Vecchio received her white coat at a special ceremony for the inaugural Physician Assistant Studies cohort.
Vecchio has touted the center on very public platforms. For instance, she spoke at the MTSU Board of Trustees’ winter quarterly board meeting in December 2022. She also joined Huber on the WKRN-TV News 2 Local On 2 lifestyle show. And she appeared on stage at the Grand Ole Opry, where the former staff sergeant was recognized, along with her two daughters, during the show’s Opry Salutes the Troops event, hosted by Opry announcer Kelly Sutton.
“It was an honor to represent the Daniels Center,” Vecchio said. “I have the commemorative poster they presented to me on the stage at the Opry hanging on the wall in my home office.
“We had our own dressing room, a television where we could watch the Opry show, with lemonade and endless buckets of popcorn. My 5-year-old daughter Amelia wants to go back if she doesn’t have to go out on the stage.” (During the presentation, the little girl, overwhelmed by the cheering audience, shyly hid behind her mother.)
Living the Dream
Huber described Vecchio as “the perfect example of my definition of a military hero.” An Air Force veteran, a military spouse, the loving mother of two young daughters, and a
full-time grad student, “she clearly comprehends selfless service and sacrifice. She is unafraid to work tirelessly to provide a future for herself and her family.”
Her tenacity was evident when Vecchio gave birth 10 weeks into her PA training to her second daughter, Claire. Two short weeks later, Vecchio was back in the classroom. It was a hard decision to make, she said. But in the end, it was one that Vecchio said she knew would be worth the emotional sacrifice.
That sacrifice paid off after Vecchio started her clinical rotations.
“I am humbled and excited every day walking in the clinic and having patients trust me with their health. Building those relationships is amazing,” Vecchio said.
Reflecting on the journey to her future, Vecchio emphasized that she has a strong family and faculty support system in place to help guide her forward. She said her favorite part of the white coat ceremony celebration was the high-five she got from her older daughter, Amelia.
“I want her to understand that education is very important,” Vecchio said. “I am the first person in my family to graduate
from college. She witnessed the sacrifices her mommy made, that you must study and work hard to be successful.”
Vecchio also spotlighted the role that “two amazing women” had in steadfastly encouraging her to stay the course. First is her mother, Melissa Phann, who quit her job to move in with her daughter to help with the children and do whatever was necessary.
My military background provided me with grit, resiliency, and a determination to be successful.
“She is someone I couldn’t do without,” Vecchio said.
Next is former CMSgt Ashley Strong, Vecchio’s sponsor (a sponsor is a trained service member who helps newcomers settle into a new duty station). At her first assignment as a
dental assistant at Maxwell Air Force Base, Vecchio said, Strong gave her “a lot of direction and inspiration, pushed me to make a difference, and continues to be in my corner.” As proof of her inspired mentorship, Strong was one of just 12 airmen selected nationwide for the Air Force’s Outstanding Airmen of the Year recognition in 2017.
As her dream is becoming a reality, Vecchio says she is eager to combine her medical experience—as a dental assistant in the Air Force and as a hospital radiology technician after being discharged from the military—with her PA training at MTSU to propel her “to make a positive difference.” She has promised herself to keep an open mind as she moves through various clinical rotations but said she is attracted to the Veterans Health Administration.
Vecchio may no longer be wearing a uniform, but she can still see herself serving her country—by caring for veterans. It’s something she witnessed firsthand at MTSU’s Daniels Center.
The Opry Salutes the Troops event recognized Vecchio, whose two daughters joined her on stage (the oldest hiding).
Quick! Name an MTSU organization that is one of 1,600 chapters representing 750,000 students, has increased its chapter membership from 76 to 124 MTSU students and alumni in two short years, and has a chapter president driven to sustain the momentum.
If you’re thinking of MTSU’s heralded Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center, you’d be wrong—sort of.
“We work with the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center,” said Jerry Stewart, chapter president of Student Veterans of America, BRAVO chapter, housed at MTSU. “While they handle the paperwork for us student veterans, we are working to put on events and to bring in guest speakers to speak to our members.”
Normally, a veteran organization such as MTSU BRAVO might absorb into a nationally respected center such as the Daniels Center. However, due to the strong leadership and efficacy of MTSU BRAVO, the leadership of both decided to work in tandem to support MTSU student veterans.
BRAVO president leads student vet org to new heights and record enrollment by Skip Anderson
BRAVO is quickly drawing attention from its national parent organization, Student Veterans of America. With the recent upsurge in student veteran membership, the 15-year-old chapter became the largest in the country for a time.
“Currently we have 124 members on our roster at BRAVO,” Stewart said. “That includes alumni members, staff, and faculty, as well as family members.”
Having served 13 years in the U.S. Army, Stewart is now a student veteran sophomore majoring in Concrete Industry Management. He and Summer, his wife of 19 years, have three children, ages 22, 17, and 16.
I have made it my mission as chapter president . . . to prevent another student veteran from falling through the cracks.
“I was primarily a Patriot Missile launcher operator and maintainer,” he said. “One of my jobs when I left active duty and moved to Tennessee was driving a concrete truck. . . . I wanted to find a way to change part of the industry, if possible.” Stewart also served four years with the Tennessee National Guard, 269th MP Company.
Once at MTSU, he quickly found Student Veterans of America/BRAVO. Recently, Stewart was instrumental in seeing MTSU recognized as only the second Purple Heart Trail university in Tennessee. He also was recently honored as MTSU’s top student organization president for 2023–24.
“I got involved in Student Veterans of America after my first semester when another student veteran committed suicide,” he said. “The campus was really talking about suicide rates among students in general. So, I have made it my mission as chapter president to bring awareness
to the situation, and to prevent another student veteran from falling through the cracks.”
That mission—and others—seem to be resonating within the 1,000 or so student veterans at MTSU. With a full schedule of events, such as a Chili Bowl cookoff/fundraiser, inaugural Visibility Exchange, and joint Burger Burn with the ROTC, MTSU BRAVO helps its members maintain personal connections and foster a sense of purpose, which can often evaporate after they leave the service.
“We are supporting each other in our education, and making sure each student veteran is achieving their educational goals,” Stewart said. “And we are working with other chapters in the region to make all Tennessee student veterans’ campus life better.”
Stewart’s elevator pitch to potential members of MTSU BRAVO is simple: “Do you want to be a part of a community that provides mentorship and networking opportunities as well as continue to serve our great community?” he said. “If so, join BRAVO.” Bravo, indeed.
Ways to Support BRAVO
Make gifts online at mtsu.edu/supportMT. Click on the button titled: Select the fund(s) for your gift. Under “Designate my gift to:”, choose “Other” and then type in BRAVO as the recipient.
Checks should be made to the MTSU Foundation with a note on the memo line that names the BRAVO fund and mailed to: Office of Development
MTSU Box 109
Murfreesboro, TN 37132
Steeped in history, and boasting Tennessee’s top student-veteran support center, MTSU ranks among the nation’s most military-focused universities
by Drew Ruble
In the heart of Middle Tennessee State University’s sprawling, 515-acre main campus sit two neighboring roadways: Normal Way and Military Memorial.
Normal Way honors MTSU’s origins as a training ground for public school teachers. Founded in 1911 as Middle Tennessee State Normal School, it derived its name from the French phrase école normale —meaning teacher-training institutions intended to establish a “norm” after which all other schools would be modeled.
Since being a teacher was one of the only professions available to educated women in the early 1900s, MTSU’s earliest enrollments
consisted primarily of female students. Some years, during war times, there were hardly any men enrolled at all, dropping to 28 male students in 1943 and 20 in ‘44.
The military changed all that. Military Memorial honors MTSU’s proud history as both a training ground and residential community for soldiers and their families.
During World War II, school President Q.M. Smith helped the institution recover from the Great Depression by securing valuable training contracts with the military industry utilizing the college’s pilot-training program (which featured a tarmac that ran right through the heart of campus!)
Thanks to Smith’s leadership and these war programs, the school began to take on a new identity. The government funding boosted its reputation as well as its bottom line. And when the war was over, the people who had worked and trained at MTSU used their GI Bill ® benefits to come back to campus and get an education. So many veterans enrolled, in fact, that the college built barracks-style housing on campus for soldiers and their families. Relics of those bygone days are still visible today. For instance, an airplane hangar still stands on the north side of campus.
Fertile Soil
The 2011 opening of a new College of Education building served as proof of MTSU’s ongoing commitment to teacher education.
The proximity of Normal Way and Military Memorial epitomizes MTSU’s historical identity as an institution. Education and military culture are each deeply embedded into MTSU’s DNA. They personify the University’s past and were crucial elements in forging MTSU’s brand. They remain pillars of who and what MTSU is today.
The 2015 creation of what would eventually be named the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center—the most comprehensive veterans and military family center at a university in Tennessee—provided similar proof of the University’s ongoing commitment to military personnel and student veterans.
Transitioning from military life to college is a daunting task. The bureaucracy surrounding admissions, registration, and educational benefits can be confusing and complicated.
Many veterans are older, with established careers and families, which can be isolating among classmates starting college straight out of high school.
MTSU’s 3,200-square-foot Daniels Center provides service and support for the thousands of veterans and family members who attend MTSU. Everything a student veteran needs to succeed is available through the center, from getting advice on courses and completing government paperwork to getting questions answered about benefits and employment opportunities.
Conveniently located in the Keathley University Center not far from both Military Memorial and Normal Way (and not far
from where planes used to take flight and land on the campus airstrip), the Daniels Center is a one-stop shop for student veterans. But even prior to the center’s opening, MTSU boasted a long and proud history of offering programs and initiatives in support of student veterans.
As far back as the 2000s, a motivated group of MTSU staffers and professors who were veterans themselves formed a Veterans and Military Affairs Committee. They met regularly (and still do) to discuss concerns like how to deal with students and professors’ getting called to active duty midsemester. They wrote policy and submitted the work for University approval.
“MTSU had all of these wonderful assets on campus, but they were just kind of spread about campus. They weren’t necessarily under an umbrella,” said Hilary Miller, the Daniels Center director and a campus pioneer on veteran outreach efforts long before the center came to fruition. “We were very much fertile ground. We had already done a lot of the work.”
In 2004, a campus committee began fundraising to create a Veterans Memorial. Its 2009 completion and unveiling recognizes the contributions of alumni and others who have served the nation’s armed forces since 1911. The memorial hosts a variety of annual events that honor veterans and future military leaders, including new officer commissioning ceremonies for the MTSU Army ROTC, the kickoff of the University’s annual Salute to Veterans and Armed Forces celebration, and a special remembrance ceremony each September 11 for victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
No other college campus in America boasts a similar Veterans Memorial.
“We were able to do it and to raise funds quickly because this community was receptive to that,” Miller said.
In 2011, MTSU became the first institution of higher education in the state—and one of the first in the country—to partner with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ new VetSuccess on Campus program. A VA mental health counselor was later added to expand services offered on campus. Such continuous progress paved the way for organizers to finally gain support for additional veteran-focused campus initiatives—notably, a full-fledged veterans center.
But to get there, the University needed a true general to lead the charge.
Man on a Mission
LTG(R) Keith M. Huber, a retired three-star general, spent 38 years in the U.S. Army, 14 of them as a general officer. When he retired from the military in 2013, his résumé had no corporate equivalent: His workdays sometimes involved combat. His business trips were tours of duty. His operating budget was
$960 million. His meetings were often with heads of state or the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
After he became a civilian for the first time since heading to West Point at 18 years of age, Huber pondered the path before him. To his mind, true retirement was out of the question, but so were many of the careers available to someone with his rarified skill set and political leverage.
“I consciously decided not to work for a defense contractor or be a news commentator or criticize other people or allow politicians to use my words and my experience to bludgeon other people,” he said.
Service is built into a soldier’s DNA, he added. He wanted to serve.
So, from his home in Franklin, he contacted academic institutions throughout Tennessee that had ROTC programs and offered to speak at commissioning or awards ceremonies—or anywhere else he could provide education or inspiration.
When he spoke at MTSU, President Sidney A. McPhee was among those present and inspired. With waves of newly discharged soldiers entering college on the Post-9/11 GI Bill ®, McPhee had been looking for a way
A history of service
MTSU military and Daniels Center timeline
1917
Enrollment dropped from 625 to 501 due to the world war in Europe.
1918 Student Army Training Corps taught military science along with regular classes.
1920s WWI veterans, some with disabilities, joined the student body.
1940 Civilian pilots began training at the campus airstrip and Murfreesboro airport for WWII.
1943–44 11th Collegiate Training Detachment cadets housed on campus, with aviation a key component.
1944
Enrollment fell from 732 in 1940 before the U.S. joined WWII to 200 (with only 20 men)—the lowest since 1911.
Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (GI Bill®) signed into law June 2, providing educational, housing, and unemployment benefits.
c. 1946 Vet Village barracks-style housing built for returning GIs attending college and their families.
1946 Men outnumbered women for the first time— enrollment jumped to 513 men (67%).
1950 Army ROTC program formed. 1951 Satellite Air Force ROTC attachment formed. 1982 Salute to Veterans and Armed Forces football game first held. 1988 Then-Vice President George H.W. Bush observed ROTC exercises.
Established the annual Joe Nunley Distinguished Veteran Award
Two alumni are first from MTSU to die in Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Veterans Memorial created on campus. Charlie Daniels presented with MTSU’s Joe M. Rodgers Spirit of America Award.
recognized as among the most military-focused universities in America, and it had a small but passionate group of faculty who worked tirelessly on student veteran issues.
McPhee wanted to hire Huber, and Huber was interested. But before accepting a position, Huber said he wanted to research and assess MTSU’s veteran environment and, based on those findings, determine the fit.
Miller vividly remembers those early weeks on the job.
“We just were going everywhere and trying to gather information,” she said. “We’re running all across campus trying to figure out what veterans wanted. He was holding these Roll Calls where he would pull all the veterans together and ask them information.
“I just remember the weather being so cold and running across campus behind him and trying to, you know, figure out what he wanted. We would see someone with digital camouflage on, and we would pull them over and say, ‘Are you a veteran?’ and, if so, he’d ask them all these questions out in the cold.
“I would call the deans of the various colleges and say, ‘We think there are a lot of veterans in your college.
in the hallways and just talk to people. We learned a lot.”
Huber agreed to stay on permanently but on two conditions: that MTSU construct a true student-veteran support center and that Miller be named its director. McPhee agreed, offering Huber space and $329,000 to design, build, and equip a veterans center on the first floor of Keathley University Center.
Getting in Tune
Beverly Keel, currently dean of MTSU’s College of Media and Entertainment, was among the earliest to understand and support Huber’s arrival on campus. Keel, a former music executive and music industry journalist, penned a blog and asked Huber if she could interview him for her platform. After the interview, Keel had an idea she just couldn’t shake. She felt strongly that Huber should meet her good friend and legendary country music performer and Grand Ole Opry member Charlie Daniels.
Keel arranged the meeting, which turned out to be a trip with Huber, Daniels, and David Corlew, the leader of Daniels’ Journey Home Project (a veteran assistance program), to Fort Benning, Georgia, to see the Best Ranger competition. The May 2015 trip went well, to say the least. By Nov. 5, 2015,
MTSU had opened the Veterans and Military Family Center. By August 2016, less than a year later, the center was officially renamed the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center following two significant financial gifts from the Danielses to the center.
Daniels, who died in 2020, applauded the MTSU center as being a place “where veterans can obtain so much support—health care, teleconferencing facilities, job placement, academics, government bureaucracy, and a therapeutic place to sit and talk with others,” he said. “Any problems they have, they can get help at the center.”
Staying on Guard
Initially, the center’s primary concern was onboarding veterans and/or family members, trying to ensure their transition to civilian life was seamless. While addressing residency, prior learning assessment, and navigating the GI Bill ® are still items the Daniels Center attends to, its focus has gravitated toward academic success and tapping into VA non-educational resources.
“We are laser-focused on ensuring that our students get strong advising and degree-planning and that they make good grades,” Miller said.
“To this end, students using Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense funding are required to participate in academic advising every semester. Further, much of the Daniels Center’s programming is academically oriented.”
Fulfilling those service goals became more complicated when the COVID-19 pandemic challenged the MTSU center’s ability just to remain open for business and available to help veterans. While most offices on campus were completely shut or operated by skeleton crews during the pandemic, the Daniels Center never closed.
A history of service
MTSU military and Daniels Center timeline (cont.)
2011
MTSU becomes one of only 12 U.S. universities to launch VA’s VetSuccess on Campus program.
2013 MTSU conducts first veterans job fair. Charlie Daniels Scholarship endowed through International Entertainment Buyers Association.
2014 Tennessee Veteran Education Task Force created, with Hilary Miller as an advisor.
2015 Army LTG(R) Keith M. Huber hired as senior advisor for veterans and leadership initiatives.
Miller named full-time center director.
First stoles given to graduating student veterans. Center opens at MTSU with help from $91,000 state Veteran Reconnect Grant.
$50,000 donated by The Journey Home Project for center technology.
2016 MTSU and Tennessee Valley HealthCare System awarded VA health community partnership award.
Full-time VA mental health counselor housed at MTSU.
Center renamed for Charlie Daniels and his wife, Hazel.
$70,000 donated to the Daniels Center by The Journey Home Project.
First Operation Song event at MTSU, pairing veterans with hit songwriters and songwriting students—always hosted the last Friday in October in honor of Daniels’ birthday.
2017 Tennessee Higher Education Commission awards $185,500 grant to increase student veterans’ success.
Transitions manager and employer search agent hired in Daniels Center expansion.
2018 Inaugural Veteran Impact Celebration held to recognize supporters and raise funds.
2020 Daniels Center door never closed during the entire pandemic.
2024 Daniels Center named a Tennessee Department of Veterans Services field office, placing a Veterans Service Officer (VSO) on site.
“We couldn’t shut,” Miller said. “We needed to stay open.”
Miller said laws reducing student-veteran housing benefits from $2,100 for on-campus classes to $800 for online classes spelled potential catastrophe for many student veterans and spurred the Daniels Center to action.
“I had to call senators and the VA in D.C. all the time and fuss at them,” she said.
“We wanted to make sure our students got what was fair, and that we did what the VA needed us to do. We would gladly put in the effort to get it right, and we definitely did. It was a lot of work, but we just needed to be here for our folks.”
Daniels Center staff also turned their attention to fundraising to fill in the gaps.
“During the pandemic, we must have given out more than $100,000 to our students and our veteran community to help pay mortgages, rent, electric bills, food bills, and all sorts of things like that,” Miller said. “And as far as grant distribution,
for one grant I had to go to Walmart every day for weeks because I could only buy four Walmart gift cards for $250 per day. I could only spend $1,000 daily, and yet I had this huge grant to give out these gift cards.”
Relief efforts went beyond campus. The Daniels Center also helped veterans from across the state and nation during the pandemic period.
Miller said a point of emphasis for the center year-round is that it will help veterans anywhere in the state, nation, or world regardless of a connection to MTSU.
The Daniels Center is now a field office for the Tennessee Department of Veterans Services, and there is a Veterans Service Officer (VSO) on site Monday through Friday. The center also will help anyone, anywhere over the phone.
“Veterans with a need also do not have to be related to MTSU to visit our campus and visit our officers,” Miller said. “I will give them a parking pass, and they can meet with
a VSO here. Or call in. . . . We work for the veteran, and we’re trying to get everybody connected back to the VA.”
An Active Duty
Miller’s goal for the Daniels Center is that every visit or connection a veteran makes with the MTSU center is “transformational.”
“Our focus has never been about needing to have this many GI Bill ® students. It’s never been about dollars. We have no recruitment mission at all,” she said. “We want to make sure people are at the right place. It’s about how many people we get to their next place.
“What I really want is that when people come to us, that we have been able to assist them and help them achieve whatever success means for them and their family.”
One recent case in point involved a student whose father, a veteran, had died. While transferring to MTSU, she couldn’t understand why her benefits weren’t transferring, and she had no money for tuition and housing showing in her account.
Center staff got involved and discovered that the student’s identity had been stolen. The Daniels Center worked diligently to rectify the situation and also assisted with finding housing, financial aid, and even keeping the student safe. The student graduated in December 2023.
“That’s the kind of transformational work we get to do on a daily basis over and over again,” Miller said. “It is exciting to watch as the center itself continues to transition, at all times moving toward providing better and more inclusive services— and leading the way for student veterans.”
That’s the goal of MTSU’s outreach to veterans: to transform soldiers, airmen, sailors, marines, and all other men and women who have served the United States into that other staple of a strong nation—college graduates.
[Editor’s note: Allison Gorman, Derek Frisby, and Hilary Miller contributed mightily to this report.]
GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government website at http://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill.
True Blue Traditions
MTSU and the Daniels Center host and participate in several events geared toward veterans and student veterans that further emphasize the University’s deep commitment to its military legacy.
The Daniels Center takes part in this community program to honor military veterans.
Veterans Stole Ceremonies
Special stoles are awarded to graduating veterans each semester, as well as to faculty and staff who are former military members.
Veteran Impact Celebration
August event recognizes supporters and brings in speakers such as Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton.
9/11 Remembrance
A commemorative service at MTSU’s Veterans Memorial each year remembers victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Pictured: MTSU’s Army and satellite Air Force ROTC cadets.
Quilts of Valor
Briefings and Burgers
Student veterans and military families are welcomed to MTSU each semester with a Newcomers Briefings orientation dinner. Other regular events include a Burger Burn cookout and Math Prep sessions.
SALUTE A VETERAN
Since 1911, Middle Tennessee State University students, faculty, staff, and alumni have served our country with distinction. Members of MTSU’s extended family have joined the military to serve and protect our country, to aid others in crisis, and to spread democracy around the world.
For a $150 contribution, you can honor a veteran or active-duty service member who is important in your life while supporting the overall MTSU effort to remember all veterans who have demonstrated the Blue Raider spirit of service to campus, community, and country.
Visit mtsu.edu/military/memorial/bricks.php or call Hilary Miller, Daniels Center, 615-904-8347.
Freedom Friday
As part of a partnership with the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, the Daniels Center and MTSU’s veterans community are recognized at the annual IndyCar race’s Freedom Friday activities.
Salute to the Troops (Grand Ole Opry) MTSU teams up on May’s Opry Salutes the Troops, while the Veterans Day show recently featured adjunct Jamie Teachenor singing the Space Force anthem he penned.
Veterans and Armed Forces Game
Current and former military are honored at halftime each November, and activities include the Nunley Award presentation and a pregame picnic.
ROTC ROLL CALL
We invite those just starting out on their academic journey to visit the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center. Stop by and see us.
And for those who have graduated and gone on to careers, it’s time to come home. Drop in and let’s catch up.
Army ROTC is a college elective you take with your other college courses.
ROTC offers you the opportunity to
• learn self-discipline and study skills
• make lifelong relationships
• challenge yourself physically and mentally
• develop confidence to succeed anywhere
ICONIC SUPPORT
Some of Tennessee’s iconic and big-name brands back veterans through MTSU’s Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center.
Roar of the Crowd
IndyCar’s thrilling Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, already a tradition heading into its fourth running in 2024, has embraced the Daniels Center from the start. Freedom Friday features the MTSU center and its military-connected students and families prominently. Last year during the festivities, the Daniels Center picked up $350,000 in combined contributions from Southern Company and the Harbaugh Foundation.
Double Shot
The maker of Jack Daniel’s famous Tennessee whiskey invited Army LTG(R) Keith M. Huber to meet with its employee veterans during the company’s recent Veterans Day events. The Daniels Center even set up the distillery’s veterans with a Veterans Service Officer on campus in November 2023 to help with their Veterans Affairs claims.
Red, White, and Blue
The Grand Ole Opry, the Nashville-based broadcast show that popularized country music nationwide, first spotlighted the Daniels Center as part of its Opry Salutes the Troops performance in 2019. The event each May features a pre-show red carpet parade, honors MTSU-connected military members or student veterans, and gives Huber the Opry stage to promote the center’s work over TV and radio airwaves across the country.
Center Ice
The NHL’s Nashville Predators pro hockey team established The General’s Fund through the Daniels Center to help support MTSU student veterans struggling financially and to recognize Huber’s military career. As part of its Ford Military Salute Week, the club solicits contributions by holding a Daniels Center pregame ceremony on ice, hosting MTSU, and picking a fan captain from among the ranks to fire up fans during intermission.
Making the Rounds
The Nashville Sounds minor league baseball club holds an online auction of its Military Appreciation Jerseys to benefit the Daniels Center and recognizes the MTSU center and student veterans as part of its Salute to Armed Forces game each spring.
Nashville Superspeedway and Rackley
200 NASCAR sponsor Rackley Roofing of Carthage donate a portion of discounted tickets sold to the MTSU community and promote the Daniels Center at the annual June race weekend while honoring current and former military.
On the Pitch
Nashville SC, a hot ticket now at beautiful Geodis Park, has allowed the Daniels Center to pick the veteran of the match for every home game the last several years. The Major League Soccer club supplies veterans with tickets and food and highlights their service in front of the crowd.
1301 E. Main St. Murfreesboro, TN 37132
