CSUN spent the week before Veterans Day honoring its student veterans.

Beginning Nov. 3 with the Sigma Tau Alpha 5K Fun Run, the week of events included veterans ally seminars, a University Student Union Veterans Resource Center booth at the Associated Students Farmers Market, and an open house at the VRC, where veteran-connected students can build a community in a welcoming and understanding environment. Student veterans were also honored on the court by CSUN President Dianne F. Harrison during the Nov. 5 Women’s Basketball home opener against USC.

We ❤ Our Veterans Week is a yearly event put on by CSUN’s Veterans Resource Center (VRC), meant to celebrate CSUN’s student veterans and to raise awareness on how to be an ally to veterans in the community.

On Nov. 7, the VRC held a We ❤ Our Veterans Week block party on the USU Plaza del Sol. This party featured booths attendees could visit for more information about supporting veterans, a camouflage patterned inflatable slide, music and the chance to throw a ball to dunk a volunteer into a dunk tank. Students, veterans and current members of the military could take part in pushup competitions on stage. Students could earn prizes after visiting booths — such as for Sigma Tau Alpha, a veteran friendly fraternity on campus, and the CSUN Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Program, a program that pays for students tuition and complete the first two years of military service while still attending college classes — checking off stamp cards along the way.

Yazmin Cerros, a sophomore in the CSUN Army ROTC program, attended in uniform. Cerros volunteered at the CSUN Army ROTC booth.

“Veterans are part of the community,” Cerros said. “Once you serve, you hope other people will support you.”

Plaza del Sol, Veterans, Veterans Resource Center, VRC, We Love Our Veterans Week