YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - As a part of its mission to provide a positive educational experience to student veterans, Youngstown State University cut the ribbon on a brand new Veterans Resource Center.

The ribbon-cutting was held Friday morning at 11:00 a.m. on the lawn between the center and the Pollock House on Wick Avenue.

The 6,000-square-foot building is located on Wick Avenue and is designed to help improve and expand services to military veterans as well as to service members transitioning to student life at YSU.  The two-story center is also home to the Office of Veterans Affairs.

The new building provides veteran students with a lounge in which they can study and unwind from their courses with gaming systems and a 55-inch screen TV. The center also has a computer lab, community room, vending machines and kitchenette.

A $1.25 million fundraising campaign was established in October 2012 to construct the building. The center is the latest in a line of efforts by the university to make the campus veteran-friendly.

In January of 2009, YSU established the OVA as a division of Student Affairs to assist students who have served or are currently serving in the armed forces obtain an advanced education. It was created as a “one-stop” office to meet the needs of YSU's student veteran population. In the fall of that same year, the university dedicated “Armed Forces Boulevard” to U.S. veterans.