The Student Veterans Organization has a new president.
Kenneth Wall, junior criminal justice major, will be taking the reins as president of SVO in the spring. Matthew Braden, the outgoing president, is transferring in January 2019 to the University of Missouri in Columbia to complete his degree in civil engineering.
SVO provides a variety of services, including an office with computers on which veterans can work on homework assignments. Jeff Huffman, the director of the Veterans Success Center, said the SVO helps veteran students graduate by giving them a support system of individuals who are also veterans. He also said each individual is willing to help another vet if they are struggling with a certain subject.
Lisa Morse, coordinator of military academic transition, said she hates losing Braden but she has high expectations for Wall.
“It is always sad when one of the members of the SVO leaves but for it to be the president sucks even more,” she said. “But I believe that Wall will pick up where Braden left off and I would not expect anything less from him.”
Huffman said Braden did a good job this year and Wall will step up to keep up the momentum.
“Braden was able to get several more vets to join,” Huffman said. “Hopefully Wall will be able to keep this up so that the organization will have a surplus of members.”
Braden said Wall is a great fit for the job.
“I think he is the right person for the job and he will continue to make strides to make sure the SVO will grow in memberships,” Braden said.
Wall said he wants to keep up the good work that Braden has accomplished so far.
“I think Braden did a great job as president,” Wall said. “He brought in almost 10 new members in his time and I just want to carry on that momentum.”
Wall also said that with thousands of veterans on campus, he wants to get at least a hundred new members by next year at this time.
“There is around a thousand vets on campus and my main goal is to get at least a hundred new members to join the organization,” he said. “This way word gets out about the organization easier and hopefully we can double our memberships based on that.”
Wall said he wants to help as many veterans as possible. He said helping vets is his main goal because he knows from experience what they deal with.
“I am a vet and I have dealt with the same problem millions of other vets deal with, whether it be with academics or adapting to civilian life,” he said. “That is why I wanted to be president of the organization.”
To contact the SVO, call 660-543-8776 or email [email protected]. The group’s Facebook page is facebook.com/UCMSVO.
