Seven people are standing in the small, semi enclosed space that is the Veterans Center, but the place feels packed. The noise generated by the hustle and bustle of other student centers in every direction forces conversation to an unnaturally high decibel. Still, everyone has to lean in closer to try to hear each other. The improvised walls fall a few feet short of the ceiling, and students who walk by can’t help but look in. Privacy is not an option. “We are in desperate need of space,” said Center Coordinator Caroline Necheles. Necheles served in the Navy for nine years and was one of the first few women to be stationed on a combat ship. Now she heads up the Veterans Center at UMB, and she wants to move it out of its current location on the third floor of the Campus Center. “There are about 500 veterans or dependents on this campus,” she said. “There’re over 300 people who use the GI bill. They need a place to go, but this is not it. This is not effective or beneficial for veterans.” Patrick Duff served in the Navy. Now that he’s at UMB, he comes to the Veterans Center every day. “These people are like family to me,” he said. “This place is like a second home.” UMB has seen a significant increase in student veterans with the introduction of the new GI bill. Necheles estimates that an average of 15 to 20 veterans stop by the center every day, but some don’t stay long because of the overcrowding and the noise. She believes that if the space was right, more veterans would come and the university would gain from a stronger veterans community. “We are an extremely active center on this campus,” Nacheles said, “but there are times when vets need to get away. They need to talk to others who know intimately the things they have been through and the world that they existed in for the time that they were in the service.” Necheles adds that peace of mind, or as she calls it, “decompressing,” can be especially elusive for veterans. “Because of my training, right now I can hear in detail four conversations going on around me. I hear three of the conversations in the Black Students Center and another one in the Wellness Center. I can also kind of hear two different conversations in Casa Latina. There has to be a time when we can get away from all that and get off our guard.” UMB receives federal funding just for having a center for veterans. Necheles is asking the administration for four walls and a door, but so far she hasn’t gotten very far. With the university’s recent purchase of the Expo Center, Necheles was told that an adequate space would be provided in the next few years, but she hopes to get something sooner. “Our university is one of the few campuses that I know of that doesn’t have a separate, comfortable Veterans Center,” she said. No one in the University administration could be reached for comment.