thursday, february 19, 2026
celebrating 122 years
Mission clarity
free
SU’s decades-long military legacy inspires ‘best place’ commitment to veterans
During the GI bulge, Syracuse University’s student body nearly doubled by dint of enrolling World War II returnees. courtesy of scrc
By Griffin Uribe Brown
B
digital managing editor
300%
increase in veteran and militaryconnected enrollment since 2015
The NVRC’s upper level includes a flag pole used by ROTC, a robot-landscaped courtyard and an orange tree from Ruth Chen, Kent Syverud’s wife. avery magee photo editor
efore Syracuse University built the National Veterans Resource Center, campus leaders were striving to make the university a premier institution for veterans and military-connected students. The gleaming, $62 million center punctuates SU’s commitment to that goal in a way that its many offcampus military endeavors do not. Its bright glass exterior, accessibility-centric design and intricate wooden interior make it stand out on Waverly Avenue. Like most buildings, the NVRC began with a set of blueprints. Mike Haynie, a retired United States Air Force officer and current vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation, commissioned an architect friend to make renovation plans for the Hoople Building, which sat where the NVRC stands today. He delivered them to SU Chancellor Kent Syverud. “I’ll take it on me to go raise some money — what do you think about renovating?’” Haynie remembered asking Syverud. “And he looked at these pictures, and then he crumpled them up and threw them away in front of me.” Haynie recalled Syverud replying, “Mike, if we’re going to do this, we should do this.” After years of construction, the complex, named for donors Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello, was officially dedicated in 2021. The building houses SU’s military and veteran offerings, including two marquee institutions — the D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families and the Office of Veteran and Military Affairs. Syverud’s commitment to the military at SU began on day one of his role. In his inauguration speech on April 11, 2014, he see military page 4
suny esf
ESF graduate assistants lose funding after stability plan cuts By Charlotte Price social media editor
As year one of SUNY ESF’s fiscal stability plan continues, graduate students are navigating their education with less financial support after the university cut funding for graduate assistant positions. Last summer, SUNY released the plan to close ESF’s structural
budget deficit. The plan aims to increase underg raduate enrollment and reduce spending in several areas, including graduate assistant funding. ESF cut GA funding by 17% compared to last year, and the funding is expected to be cut by another 13% next year, ESF administration confirmed in a Wednesday statement to The Daily Orange.
GAs work as teachers and are compensated with tuition stipends and benefits. These roles typically support graduate students in their early years at ESF before they transition to federally funded research assistantships later in their programs, Emily Friden, a fourth-year graduate student and president of ESF’s graduate student association, said.
Only about 12% of graduate students nationally receive any form of assistantship, according to ESF’s statement. Even with the cuts, ESF is still at the average number of GA positions per 100 students for SUNY’s University Centers, the statement said. ESF Professor Colin Beier said funding cuts to GA positions will make pursuing a graduate
education at ESF less accessible and appealing. “That is going to have a lot of impacts on the delivery of courses and obviously the ability for grad students to even attend ESF,” said Beier, who also serves as ESF’s vice president of academics for United University Professionals. “The idea is that you’re not going to see graduate students page 5