Military Times EDGE

Student veterans at San Diego State University have moved into their own house on Fraternity Row this year, the only such residence in the country, according to the school.

Only 22 vets can live in the house and the adjoining apartments, but SDSU wants it to be a home base for all the hundreds of veterans on campus — a place to hold Student Veteran Organization meetings, host study groups and hang out. “More and more people are using it every day, which is promising,” said Nathaniel Donnelly, assistant veterans coordinator on campus, who helped to found the Student Veterans Organization before he graduated. The SVO is leasing the house from Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, which was suspended from campus until at least 2012. University President Stephen Weber loaned $20,000 from his discretionary fund for the first year of the lease, but $60,000 is needed to secure the lease for the next two years.

The development team is about halfway to meeting that goal, said university spokeswoman Gina Jacobs.

More than 800 veterans and 200 active-duty military students are enrolled at SDSU.