The Military & Veteran Center at Methodist University recently unveiled its newest addition to the center's decor this past semester. A long awaited Velcro patch board, handcrafted and designed to honor the service, stories, and unit pride to MU’s military-affiliated students and families.
The Military & Veteran Center at Methodist University recently unveiled its newest addition to the center’s decor this past semester. A long awaited Velcro patch board, handcrafted and designed to honor the service, stories, and unit pride to MU’s military-affiliated students and families.
Funded through the generosity of the H.M. and Pearl Kyle Foundation, whose ongoing support has helped transform the center into a hub of community and connection for veterans, active-duty service members, and their families. The foundation has previously funded the center’s upkeep including its furnishings.
Last spring, the foundation asked what else it could do to be of service, and MU’s coordinator of Military & Veteran Services Rocio Serna, knew the answer immediately.
“It’s been a project… the most wanted and requested for a long time,” Serna said. “Students never even had to describe it. When they asked for a patch board, I immediately knew what they meant. It’s an understood request in the veteran community.”
Serna met an artist, Dyami Evans, at a vendor booth and described the project to him. Serna said he understood the assignment immediately.
“He was a veteran, which made a difference,” she said. “The same way our students didn’t have to explain the idea to me, I didn’t have to explain it to him.”
A few mockups later, the board design was finalized.
Threads of History
The patches themselves represent duty stations, deployments, history, and parts of identity. The opportunity to have a place to display their patches brought instant camaraderie.
“Germany, Italy, Alaska… you name it,” Ser
na said. “As soon as students started placing their patches, the stories came with them. All the bantering, the memories. One unifying piece brought people from different branches and backgrounds together. That’s exactly what we wanted to capture.”
Director of Military & Veteran Services, Randy Smith said the board’s importance reflects pride and the history threaded into each patch.
“There’s a story behind each one,” Smith said. Pointing to examples like the All-American patch and the Pineapple Brigade patch “Every patch has meaning.”
Serna also welcomes the contribution of military families.
“We serve veterans, active-duty, and their family members,” she said. “I would love to see a spouse or child come place a loved one’s patch. That would be beautiful.”
Home Is Where the Patch Is
Boldly displayed inside the Military & Veteran Services Center, the board serves as a visual record of where MU’s military-affiliated students have served and the paths that brought them here.
The students that the center serves say it’s always had the USO feel, now it feels like home. As Serna best puts it, “It connects people immediately. And it reminds them that no matter where they’ve served, they belong here.”