Santa Fe College Unveils expanded LeMoyne Veterans Center

“Our veterans deserve a premier space on this campus, and they deserve a space where they can gather, a space where they can be advised, a space where they can unwind, and we’re committed to continuing to serve our veterans,” Santa Fe College President Paul Broadie II said Wednesday morning. Roughly 80 people gathered on the college’s Northwest Campus for a ribbon-cutting celebrating the newly relocated Veterans Center Office, Mainstreet Daily News reported.

The move is less a change of address than an upgrade in place. According to Sandra Torres-Pintos, director of TRIO and veteran programs at SF College and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, the center is still in the R Building, merely “around the corner” from its previous location on the opposite side of admissions. Yet the new 2,166-square-foot space dwarfs its predecessor’s 1,934 square feet, part of a broader push to centralize student services on this side of campus.

A Bigger, Brighter Home for Student Veterans

Renovations began in July and took roughly three to four months to complete, transforming the area with moved columns, new ceilings, lighting, floors, and furniture. Torres-Pintos described the work as “massive” and the result as “more welcoming,” featuring a larger open student area, a kitchen with additional space and counters, and lounge seating with stools where students can work on their laptops.

The new location remains centrally located and more visible to students, Torres-Pintos said, which matters for a population that includes not just student veterans but also their family members, National Guardsmen, and active-duty service members. The center serves as a one-stop hub where these students can receive help with anything from college admission and financial aid to VA health care and more. Torres-Pintos explained that this area of the college’s Northwest Campus is meant to become a new centralized space for student services, which prompted the center’s move.

For Bryan Rowland, a 2025 SF College alumnus and student veteran who attended the ceremony, the office became something far more than a bureaucratic stop to check a box before registering for classes. Student veterans like Rowland can get help pursuing a college degree at SF College thanks to scholarship efforts, and the center has become integral to that journey.

“I had the opportunity to be a work-study [student] at this office, which gave me the chance to be surrounded by the incredible staff and students that are here,” Rowland said. “Just being in their presence motivated me to push further and reach higher. Eventually, this place would become a home away from home for me.”

Honoring a Legacy of Service

During the ceremony, Torres-Pintos announced that the relocated center would bear the name Lieutenant General John M. LeMoyne Veterans Center, honoring LeMoyne’s years of service in the armed forces and his continued support of student veterans. LeMoyne, who attended the event, helped establish a scholarship program in 2008 to support student veterans seeking a higher education.

What began nearly two decades ago as a single effort has grown into more than 50 scholarships awarded annually to student veterans, according to Torres-Pintos.

“What began as an effort to make a difference now applies to more than 50 scholarships annually to our student veterans,” she said. “More than 50 opportunities every year, more than 50 reminders that their service is appreciated, their sacrifices were not forgotten, and their dreams deserve investment.”

Standing before the crowd, Torres-Pintos addressed LeMoyne directly: “May every student who walks through these doors understand what your name represents: a service, a commitment to others, and a belief in the potential of those who have served our community.”

The ribbon-cutting concluded with an open house featuring cake and light refreshments, as President Broadie II and LeMoyne cut a ceremonial cake together inside the new space. While the center’s physical footprint has grown by 232 square feet and its visibility to students has improved, the relocation stays within the same R Building—a reminder that for the veterans who rely on these services, the quality of the space and the people in it matter as much as the address.

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