“The Veterans Council promotes awareness and expansion of veterans services on campus while providing a unifying voice for Fresno State’s veteran population,” said Lt. Col Kenneth Bourque, commander for Fresno State’s Air Force ROTC.

The council aims to make student veterans a priority and help them through any issue affecting their education.

“I think that voice has been instrumental for Fresno State’s leadership to rapidly identify, prioritize and take action on hot-button issues that impact our Fresno veterans,” Bourque said.

A first step is the Veterans Virtual Resource Center website, a one-stop place where student veterans, active military, reservists and family members can get the information they need and navigate their way through campus and community resources. The website directs users to the appropriate site to fit their need.

“If I don’t know anything about Fresno State, but I know that I want to go to school here, I can go on the site and figure out how to become a Fresno State Bulldog, utilize my benefits and find other useful information,” said Dr. Daniel Bernard, executive director of the Division of Continuing and Global Education and executive director of the Veterans Education Program.

Programs involved in the Veteran’s Council that are dedicated to helping student veterans succeed include the Veterans Education Program, TRiO Student Support Services Program, Veteran’s Affairs, Military Sciences and Leadership (Army ROTC) and Aerospace Studies (Air Force ROTC) programs, along with the Student Veterans Organization and Omega Delta Sigma.

While the variety of programs on campus is helpful for veterans, it can make it confusing for students to know where to go.

“Sometimes people just don’t know where to go on campus for services. Rather than reinvent the wheel and create a different organization here and there, we brought it all together,” Bernard said.

“Let’s connect these resources, let’s get our student veterans in the same place at the same time with all the people that can basically benefit them with our resources.”

Dr. Scott Moore, dean of the Division of Continuing and Global Education, oversees the Veterans Council. He said each member of the organization plays an important role in ensuring the success of the council.

Bernard said the collaboration of all campus organizations involved with student veterans is key to the endeavor.

“This is unique. We have every veteran’s organization on campus at the same table making sure that we’re providing everything we can … and we’re excited about it,” Bernard said.

Fresno State will honor veterans during Veterans Week, starting Saturday, Nov. 5, with a 5K run and concluding on Friday, Nov. 11, with the Veterans Day Parade in Downtown Fresno.

A memorial service will be held on Thursday, Nov. 10, at 10 a.m. at the Fresno State flagpole to honor all veterans and the sacrifices they made. Immediately following the memorial service, an Armed Forces Walk of Honor will begin by the Rose Garden and progress toward the Henry Madden Library for a veteran’s exhibit that will showcase memorabilia and student, staff, faculty and alumni photos with bios.

The Fresno State Veteran’s Council will march together for the first time in the Fresno Veteran’s Day Parade, the largest Veterans Day parade held in California. For Fresno, the Veterans Day Parade is a monumental occasion. In 2015, The Census Bureau reported that over 42,000 veterans live in Fresno County.