It’s empty right now — Thursday afternoon marked a soft opening, a sort of rough-draft of what’s to come. Administrators and those involved with the center’s creation, including Student Veterans of America MSU Chapter President Jerred Pender, spoke before they cut the ribbon blocking the entrance, letting in dozens of people eager to see the space.

Pender, along with MSU Vice President of Student Affairs Denise Maybank, Vice President and Secretary of the Board of Trustees Bill Beekman and Acting Provost June Youatt all offered opening words before Pender cut the ribbon.

University officials still are working with student leaders to hammer out the specifics of what services the center will offer, but the preliminary plans are in place.

Many want the university to employ a full-time staff member who’s knowledgeable about GI Bill benefits and other services available for veterans, preferably someone who also was a veteran. Maybank said the university plans to create that position, but offered no timeline of when that will happen.

Still, administrators and student veteran leaders said the center is a significant step forward for the nearly 400 student veterans on campus.

“It is not just that we get to stand here, cut a ribbon and acknowledge a space,” Maybank said at the ceremony. “It is that we get to acknowledge the people that matter most, and to recognize veterans as a part of the experience of Michigan State University.”

Maybank acknowledged the center’s opening is just the beginning of an increased commitment to veterans at MSU.

“So we gather for a long-awaited and anticipated moment in relation to the space behind me. But I want you to know, even though it may not be completed, it is the start of something that will be meaningful for us for quite a long time,” she said.

Bryan Chapman, a 42-year-old student veteran at the ceremony, remembered how difficult it was trying to navigate both the university and veterans affairs bureaucracies while going to school.

“The place is so big; we were running back from (the Office of) Financial Aid, Student Services and the Administration Building, just trying to get some understanding,” said Chapman, a Muskegon, Mich. native who served in the Navy 20 years ago.

Chapman said without a “go-to person” who works with veterans and understands the issues they face, university life can be confusing.

“Then you couple that with all your life experience — your military service and other things you’re doing — and it can be daunting,” he said. “I think the purpose of this spot is to give us a central location, hopefully with somebody who is a veteran.”