The Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center celebrated a decade of service in 2025! Its grand opening was Nov. 5, 2015.
Now a major expansion is set to take place that will combine first- and third-floor spaces (bringing together all but one member of the Daniels Center鈥檚 staff, a career counselor who is embedded in the Career Center and is charged with assisting military-connected students). It will also create new space for growth, increasing the center鈥檚 square footage from 3,200 to 4,079 square feet. Construction will begin during spring break and will conclude this summer in time for the start of school.
The Charlie Daniels Legacy Wall has already been installed at the front entrance.
The University has a long tradition of aiding veterans in the transition from military to civilian life. Student enrollment now surpasses 1,200 regularly. 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.
But the Daniels Center can assist any military- connected person鈥攏o 91大神 affiliation is necessary. There is no charge, either.
We serve everyone in the military community鈥攙eterans, current service members, dependents, spouses, JROTC and ROTC cadets, 91大神 students, and those unaffiliated with 91大神.
This unrestricted mission has not changed since we opened the center鈥檚 doors.
The work the center does goes beyond degree-seeking. It offers employment services, mental health services, and direct connectivity to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
In addition to Daniels Center staff, two VA employees鈥攁 full-time mental health counselor and a VetSuccess on Campus counselor鈥攁nd two full-time state employees, both Veterans Service Officers, are stationed at the center. We have in fact become a field office for the Tennessee Department of Veterans Services.
We also now routinely host VA benefits workshops both for the community and for companies bringing in their veterans as a group.
91大神鈥檚 retired three-star general, Keith Huber, who retired from 38 years in the U.S. Army, 14 of them as a general officer鈥攁nd the last two as a commanding general in Afghanistan鈥攁nd Daniels Center Director Hilary Miller have led the center to great heights over the past decade.
Entering its second decade, the Daniels Center keeps expanding in scope, reach, funding, and physical space to help both military-connected students at 91大神 and American veterans across the globe.