CHARLIE AND HAZEL DANIELS VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILY CENTER
A Decade of Dedication
MTSU’s Daniels Center continues the mission to serve those who served the nation
CHARLIE AND HAZEL DANIELS VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILY CENTER
Middle Tennessee State University Fall 2025 / Vol. 5, No. 1
Director, Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center
Hilary Miller
Senior Advisor for Veterans and Leadership Initiatives
LTG(R) Keith M. Huber, U.S. Army
Senior Editor
Drew Ruble
Associate Editor
Carol Stuart
Creative and Visual Services Director
Kristy O’Neal
Designer
Micah Loyed
University Photographers
James Cessna, Andy Heidt, J. Intintoli, Cat Curtis Murphy
Contributing Editor
Nancy Broden
Contributing Writer
Randy Weiler
University President
Sidney A. McPhee
University Provost
Mark Byrnes
Vice President of Marketing and Communications
Andrew Oppmann
Correspondence should be sent to JOURNEY Magazine, Drew Ruble, 1301 E. Main St., MTSU Box 49, Murfreesboro, TN 37132
0525-1637 / Middle Tennessee State University does not discriminate against students, employees, or applicants for admission or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age, status as a protected veteran, genetic information, or any other legally protected class with respect to all employment, programs, and activities sponsored by MTSU. The Assistant to the President for Civil Rights Compliance has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies and can be reached at Cope Administration Building 116, 1301 East Main Street, Murfreesboro, TN 37132; Christy.Sigler@mtsu.edu; or 615-8982185. The MTSU policy on non-discrimination can be found at crc.mtsu.edu.
860 copies printed at Pollock Printing, Nashville, Tenn. Designed by MTSU Creative and Visual Services
Red, White, and True Blue
Veterans and family members, organized by MTSU’s Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center, unfurl the American flag before May’s Rackley Roofing 200 NASCAR truck race. The University’s ROTC presented the nation’s colors, and LTG(R) Keith M. Huber, MTSU’s senior advisor for veterans and leadership initiatives, served as honorary track official as the Nashville Superspeedway weekend honored troops and veterans.
Photo by James Cessna
On the cover: LTG(R) Keith Huber welcomes LTG Jody Daniels, then-chief of the U.S. Army Reserve.
Photo by J. Intintoli
GI Bill ® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government website at http://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill.
MTSU’s retired three-star general, Keith Huber, and Daniels Center Director Hilary Miller discuss each other’s servant leadership to pay back those who served their country
MTSU and the
Student
On July 6, 2020, we lost an icon of music and philanthropy in Country Music Hall of Famer Charlie Daniels.
We did not see it coming. He had not been sick. He hadn’t slowed down. In fact, prior to the pandemic, Mr. Daniels was on track to perform a record number of concerts in 2020.
Like everyone who loved and admired Mr. Daniels, we had not imagined a future without him.
At all times, we at the Daniels Center are aware that Charlie and Hazel’s names are literally on the front door. Their commitment to caring for the military is a constant reminder to always do more than is needed.
Not too long ago, Charlie Daniels Jr. wrote an article about accepting the Merle Haggard Spirit Award on his father’s behalf. He wrote that when he was on stage himself, the lighting often would cast a shadow from his own hat that made it appear that his father was standing nearby wearing his iconic cowboy hat. He wrote that he was comforted to know that Charlie Sr. was still with him.
Just like Mr. Daniels’ continuing impact on the world through his music and charity, as we celebrate 10 years of service, we too are continuing the mission to grow how we assist military people, wherever they reside in the world. We also now honor Mr. Daniels’ contributions with our Charlie Daniels Legacy Wall, which includes gifts from the Daniels family, was curated by MTSU’s Center for Historic Preservation, and was made possible by a gift from the Speer Foundation.
At the time of Mr. Daniels’ passing, we were experiencing a worldwide health crisis. Looking back, I am most proud
AN ONGOING DUTY
of our availability and adaptability during that strange time. We did not close the Daniels Center for even one day during the pandemic.
Part of our challenge, especially then, was to ensure that people understood that we serve EVERYONE in the military community—veterans, current service members, dependents and spouses, JROTC and ROTC cadets, MTSU students, and those unaffiliated with MTSU.
This unrestricted mission has not changed since we opened the center’s doors on Nov. 5, 2015. But it was vitally important that this message was communicated during those lockdown days. We needed our community to know we were open and had resources to share beyond MTSU. We refocused our efforts on fundraising and distributed more than $100,000 to veterans and family members during that period.
We further leaned in to connecting veterans with their Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits. We now routinely host VA benefits workshops both for the community and for companies bringing in their veterans as a group. We have become a field office for the Tennessee Department of Veterans Services and have two Veterans Service Officers (VSOs) stationed in the Daniels Center. We have hired a second person to assist military-connected people with employment.
The bottom line: We are proud to be part of the legacy of Mr. Daniels and his foundation, The Journey Home Project. We will always keep moving forward, trying to expand our (and his) reach.
Hilary Miller, Ed.D., Daniels Center Director
Charlie Daniels Legacy Wall
Giving Back to Those Who Gave
Thank you to our donors who help military-connected students reach their education and career goals, from organizations to individuals like you! Both the Southern Company and the Harbaugh Foundation have made major gifts to MTSU’s Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center in recent years at the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix IndyCar race’s annual Freedom Friday event.
Harbaugh Foundation major donation
MTSU ROTC presenting colors at Freedom Friday
Southern Company major donation
Daniels Center billboard in downtown Nashville
A Century of Honor
Military culture is deeply embedded into MTSU’s DNA, and the University has a long tradition of aiding veterans in the transition from military to civilian life.
William J. McConnell, who wrote the school’s original fight song, was among the first alumni to give their lives for their country in World War I. During World War II, President Q.M. Smith secured valuable training contracts with the military industry (which featured a hangar and tarmac in the heart of campus and became the impetus for the college’s pilottraining program.)
And when the war was over, the people who had worked and trained at MTSU used their GI Bill ® benefits to come back to campus and get educations. So many veterans enrolled that the college built barracks-style housing for former service members and their families. Thousands of MTSU students continued serving through later wars, including in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
In the 2000s, a motivated group of MTSU staffers and professors—many of whom were veterans themselves—formed a Veterans and Military Affairs Committee. They met regularly (and still do) to discuss concerns like how to deal with students and professors’ getting called to active duty midsemester. They wrote and submitted policy for University approval.
“We were very much fertile ground. We had already done a lot of the work,” said Hilary Miller, director of MTSU’s Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center and a campus pioneer on veteran outreach efforts long before the center came to fruition in 2015.
Committee fundraising to create a Veterans Memorial began in 2004, and its 2009 completion and unveiling recognizes the contributions of alumni and others who have served in the nation’s armed forces since the institution’s inception in 1911. The memorial hosts a variety of annual events honoring veterans and future military leaders. No other college campus in America boasts a similar Veterans Memorial.
In 2011, MTSU became the first institution of higher education in the state—and one of the first in the nation—to partner with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ new VetSuccess on Campus program. A VA mental health counselor was later added to expand services offered on campus. Such continuous progress paved the way for organizers to finally gain support for additional veteran-focused campus initiatives—notably a full-fledged veterans center, opened a decade ago, that became a model for other U.S. universities.
Read about MTSU’s 71 fallen heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice at mtsu.edu/military/rollofhonor
A history of service
MTSU military and Daniels Center timeline
1917 Enrollment dropped from 625 to 501 due to the world war in Europe.
1918 Student Army Training Corps taught military science along with regular classes.
1920s WWI veterans, some with disabilities, joined the student body.
1940 Civilian pilots began training at the campus airstrip and Murfreesboro airport for WWII.
1943–44 11th Collegiate Training Detachment cadets housed on campus, with aviation a key component.
1944 Enrollment fell from 732 in 1940, before the U.S. joined WWII, to 200 (with only 20 men)—the lowest since 1911.
Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (GI Bill®) signed into law June 22, providing educational, housing, and unemployment benefits.
c. 1946 Vet Village barracks-style housing built for returning GIs attending college and their families.
1946 Men outnumbered women for the first time— enrollment jumped to 513 men (67%).
1950 Army ROTC program formed.
1951 Satellite Air Force ROTC attachment formed.
1982 Salute to Veterans and Armed Forces football game first held.
1988 Then-Vice President George H.W. Bush observed ROTC exercises.
1990 The annual Joe Nunley Distinguished Veteran Award established.
2002 Two alumni are first from MTSU to die in Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
2009 Veterans Memorial created on campus.
Charlie Daniels presented with MTSU’s Joe M. Rodgers Spirit of America Award.
2011 MTSU becomes one of only 12 U.S. universities to launch VA’s VetSuccess on Campus program.
MTSU military and Daniels Center timeline (cont.)
2013 MTSU conducts first veterans job fair.
Charlie Daniels Scholarship endowed through International Entertainment Buyers Association.
2014 Tennessee Veteran Education Task Force created, with Hilary Miller as an advisor.
2015 Army LTG(R) Keith M. Huber hired as senior advisor for veterans and leadership initiatives.
Hilary Miller named full-time center director.
First stoles given to graduating student veterans.
Center opens at MTSU with help from $91,000 state Veteran Reconnect Grant.
Full-time VA mental health counselor housed at MTSU.
$50,000 donated by Charlie Daniels’ The Journey Home Project for center technology.
A commemorative service at MTSU’s Veterans Memorial each year remembers victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
2016
MTSU and Tennessee Valley HealthCare System awarded VA health community partnership award.
Center renamed for Charlie Daniels and his wife, Hazel.
$70,000 donated to the Daniels Center by The Journey Home Project.
First Operation Song event at MTSU, pairing veterans with hit songwriters and songwriting students.
2017 Tennessee Higher Education Commission awarded $185,500 grant to increase student veterans’ success.
Transitions manager and employer search agent hired in Daniels Center expansion.
2018 Inaugural Veteran Impact Celebration held to recognize supporters and raise funds.
2020 Daniels Center never closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2024 Daniels Center named a Tennessee Department of Veterans Services field office, placing a Veterans Service Officer (VSO) on site.
2025 MTSU Army ROTC celebrates 75th anniversary. Second VSO placed in the center.
Daniels Center marks 10th anniversary.
The
Illustration by Micah Loyed
Journey Home
Before MTSU created the most comprehensive veterans and military family center at a university in Tennessee, the University needed a true general to lead the charge. And, as it turns out, a patriotic country music performer who became a major benefactor.
LTG(R) Keith M. Huber, whom MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee wanted to hire after he spoke on campus, and legendary musician Charlie Daniels first met in May 2015. Following a fact-finding mission initiated by Huber, McPhee had just agreed to launch a veterans center on campus, in part to help with the waves of newly discharged soldiers entering college on the Post-9/11 GI Bill ®
Huber and Daniels were introduced by Beverly Keel, now dean of MTSU’s College of Media and Entertainment, who was among the earliest to understand and support Huber’s arrival on campus. After interviewing Huber for her blog, Keel had a feeling she couldn’t shake and felt strongly that Huber should meet Daniels, her good friend and Grand Ole Opry member.
The meeting turned out to be a trip by Huber, Daniels, and David Corlew, the co-founder of Daniels’ Journey Home Project (a veteran assistance program), to Fort Benning, Georgia, to see the Best Ranger competition. The trip went well, to say the least. By Nov. 5, 2015, MTSU had opened the Veterans and Military Family Center. By August 2016, less than a year later, the center was officially renamed the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center following two significant financial gifts from the Danielses to the center.
Daniels, who died in 2020, applauded the MTSU center as being a place “where veterans can obtain so much support— health care, teleconferencing facilities, job placement, academics, government bureaucracy, and a therapeutic place to sit and talk with others,” he said. “Any problems they have, they can get help at the center.”
In the summer of 2018, Daniels mixed and mingled with, as well as entertained, supporters of the MTSU center at the inaugural Veteran Impact Celebration. A $100,000 check from The Journey Home Project, along with other funds raised through the event, went toward the center and its Veterans Transitioning Home office that helps MTSU students in their career paths.
“Freedom is not free,” said Daniels, who praised the center that bears his and his wife’s names. “There are two things you can count on—the grace of God and the U.S. military.”
MTSU’s Daniels Center provides an ongoing commitment each day to serve those who have served in the U.S. armed forces, whether or not they have an MTSU connection.
The Mission Continues
Transitioning from military life to college is a daunting task. The bureaucracy surrounding admissions, registration, and educational benefits can be confusing and complicated.
Many veterans are older, with established careers and families, which can be isolating among classmates starting college straight out of high school.
MTSU’s 3,200-square-foot Daniels Center provides service and support for the thousands of veterans and family members who attend MTSU. Everything a student veteran needs to succeed is available through the center, from getting advice on courses and completing government paperwork to getting questions answered about benefits and employment opportunities.
Conveniently located in the Keathley University Center (and not far from where planes used to take flight and land on the campus airstrip), the Daniels Center is a one-stop shop for student veterans.
While addressing residency, prior learning assessment, and navigating the GI Bill ® are still items the Daniels Center attends to, its focus has gravitated toward academic success, tapping into noneducational VA resources, and assisting with post-graduation employment opportunities.
“We are laser-focused on ensuring that our students get strong advising and degree-planning and that they make good grades,” Daniels Center Director Hilary Miller said.
During the COVID-19 pandemic period, the MTSU center never closed. Staff also turned their attention to fundraising to fill in the gaps, giving out more than $100,000 to students and the veterans community while also helping veterans from across the state and nation.
The Daniels Center is now a field office for the Tennessee Department of Veterans Services, with a second Veterans Service Officer (VSO) on site as of July 2025. The center will provide parking passes to any non-MTSU connected veterans on campus for appointments—and also helps anyone, anywhere over the phone.
Miller’s goal for the Daniels Center is that every visit or connection a veteran makes with the MTSU center is “transformational.”
“We have no recruitment mission at all,” she said. “It’s about how many people we get to their next place. What I really want is that when people come to us, that we assist them and help them achieve whatever success means for them and their family.”
One recent case involved a student whose father, a veteran, had died. While transferring to MTSU, she couldn’t understand why her benefits weren’t transferring, and Daniels Center staff discovered that her identity had been stolen. Staff worked diligently to rectify the situation while assisting with finding housing, financial aid, and even keeping the student safe.
“That’s the kind of transformational work we get to do on a daily basis over and over again,” Miller said. “It is exciting to watch as the center itself continues to transition, at all times moving toward providing better and more inclusive services—and leading the way for student veterans.”
That’s the goal of MTSU’s outreach to veterans: to transform soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, guardians, and all other men and women who have served the U.S. into that other staple of a strong nation—college graduates.
True Blue Traditions
MTSU and the Daniels Center host and participate in several events geared toward veterans and military-connected students that emphasize the University’s deep commitment to its military legacy.
The Daniels Center takes part in this community program to honor military veterans.
Veterans Stole Ceremonies
Special stoles are awarded to graduating veterans each semester, as well as to faculty and staff who are former military members.
Veteran Impact Celebration
August event recognizes supporters and brings in speakers such as Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton.
9/11 Remembrance
A service at MTSU’s Veterans Memorial each year commemorates victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Pictured: MTSU’s Army ROTC cadets plant flags for each victim.
Quilts of Valor
Salute to the Troops (Grand Ole Opry)
MTSU and the Daniels Center team up on May’s Opry Salutes the Troops, which featured MTSU visitor and then-U.S. Army Reserve commanding officer Lt. Gen. Jody Daniels (center) last year, and participate in November’s Veterans Day show at the Grand Ole Opry.
Veterans and Armed Forces Game
Current and former military are honored at halftime of a football game each November. Other activities include the Nunley Award presentation and a pregame picnic.
Briefings and Burgers
Student veterans and military families are welcomed to MTSU each semester with a Newcomers Briefing orientation dinner. Other regular events include a Burger Burn cookout and Math Prep sessions.
SALUTE A VETERAN
Since 1911, Middle Tennessee State University students, faculty, staff, and alumni have served our country with distinction. Members of MTSU’s extended family have joined the military to serve and protect our country, to aid others in crisis, and to spread democracy around the world.
For a $150 contribution, you can honor a veteran or active-duty service member who is important in your life while supporting the overall MTSU effort to remember all veterans who have demonstrated the Blue Raider spirit of service to campus, community, and country.
Visit mtsu.edu/military/memorial/bricks.php or call Hilary Miller, Daniels Center, 615-904-8347.
Freedom Friday
As part of a partnership with the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix, the Daniels Center and MTSU’s veterans community are recognized at the annual IndyCar race’s Freedom Friday activities. Pictured: MTSU’s Army ROTC Color Guard
by Randy Weiler
Student veterans achieve their missions at MTSU despite challenges
A Hawaii native and former California resident, retired U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Chuck Bolding overcame a bone marrow transplant and other health issues on his path to graduating summa cum laude from MTSU at age 52.
Marine 2nd Lt. Rashieq Cockerham of Murfreesboro, 29, immersed himself in research and campus organizations while earning his degree. After previously serving four years on active duty, he commissioned into the Marines in the Daniels Center shortly after his May graduation.
Among 100 veterans graduating from MTSU in May 2025, the two exemplify military-connected students and families helped by the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center. Both also were surprised with special recognition for their hard work during their academic careers as the Daniels Center hosted its 30th stole ceremony.
Bolding ( pictured above), a stay-at-home father and husband while attending MTSU, earned the Journey Award as he notched a 3.9 GPA majoring in Integrated Studies with emphasis in education and leadership. He received a variety of medals and badges during his service, which included deployment in Bosnia during a NATO mission and in the Operation Iraqi Freedom conflict.
“I adapted to college life without too much difficulty,” said Bolding, who admitted to “hating school growing up. . . . My first semester, I decided to get A’s. I knew I had to work to make that happen. I owe a great deal of thanks to the Daniels
Center. Without them, I’m unsure if I would have been able to be as successful as I have been.”
Cockerham ( pictured here), given the Veteran Leadership Award, recorded nearly a 3.7 GPA while majoring in Biology with a Physiology concentration and minors in Science (chemistry emphasis), Spanish, and Honors. He published research in MTSU’s Scientia et Humanitas academic journal in spring 2025 and received the Honors Dean’s Distinguished Essay Award for an associated article.
Cockerham, who participated in five conferences in his final semester, said he “still wrestles with imposter syndrome” but that “mentorship, a supportive academic community, and wife” helped him overcome obstacles. He served as a Chemistry Department learning assistant, Honors College ambassador, and Office of Research and Sponsored Programs student worker.
“Life at MTSU has been amazing,” Cockerham said. “I arrived as a nontraditional student and quickly found an on-campus community that supported both my academic and personal growth. The support I received from faculty, the Honors College, the Daniels Center, and my peers made this journey incredibly meaningful and rewarding.”
ANDHEART SOUL
MTSU’s retired three-star general, Keith Huber, and Daniels Center Director Hilary Miller discuss each other’s servant leadership to pay back those who served their country by
Carol Stuart
Long before videos went viral on social media and while her brother was deployed to war, Hilary Miller wrote a July 2006 column for MTSU’s The Record about her fundraising efforts to help provide U.S. troops with helmet inserts to protect against explosives.
After the Associated Press picked up the article, it spread quickly to media outlets across the nation. Her Marine brother, Chris Frey, whose current rank is lieutenant colonel, and his dog, Trooper, became somewhat famous from the photo, and she was invited by retired U.S. Gen. Wesley Clark to guestwrite for his blog— a week after a wellknown Hillary (Clinton). Miller also had become family friends with retired Navy Capt. Bob Meaders, a doctor who spearheaded the Operation Helmet retrofits.
“I think people read it because of the photo of my brother and his dog, and what was going on in the world,” said Miller, now director of MTSU’s Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center.
During an economic downturn and slowdown in her College of Liberal Arts position, she asked to continue working on veterans issues at MTSU and by 2009 spearheaded the Veterans and Military Affairs Committee.
In spring 2014, shortly after marrying Joel Miler, MTSU’s then-professor of Military Science, she was in the audience when a retired three-star U.S. Army general, LTG(R) Keith Huber, spoke at the ROTC awards ceremony. Huber had recently become a civilian for the first time since he entered West Point, retiring from 38 years in the U.S. Army, 14 of them as a general officer—and
the last two as a commanding general in Afghanistan.
“One of the challenges of transition is trying to reintegrate yourself with your family, in my case my son and my grandsons, and then my daughter, who was still a teenager,” said Huber, now MTSU senior advisor for veterans and leadership initiatives. “That first year of retirement, I underwent four major surgeries, which kept me bedridden. So not only am I trying to reintegrate with my wife and daughter in the house, but I’m also feeling pretty useless because I don’t have mobility, and they’re required to tend to me.
“So my second year of retirement, my wife goes, ‘Hey, Huber, I love you, but you gotta get out of the house.’ ”
After contacting ROTC programs across Tennessee to offer speaking services for free, Huber impressed many at MTSU—including Miller. She invited him to return in November as the first speaker for an Honors lecture series she was helping develop, with, as Huber requested, a full schedule from practically sunrise to well after sunset. While meeting with President Sidney A. McPhee, Huber declined a surprise offer of employment—but instead suggested a fact-finding mission about MTSU and its veterans that he embarked on with Miller in early 2015.
The rest is history. As MTSU’s Daniels Center celebrates 10 years of aiding veterans and military families on campus and across the globe, we asked Miller and Huber to talk about their patriotic partnership to serve those who have bravely served the nation.
HUBER ABOUT
I thought the connection between Dr. Miller and me was absolutely perfect from my foxhole.
When did you meet Dr. Hilary Miller and what were your first impressions? LTG Keith Huber: My first interaction with Dr. Miller was that week in November 2014, and President McPhee then asked me to come back the next day for the “salute the troops” football game. When I was on a 90-day contract at my request, Dr. Miller and I immediately in January of 2015 started doing research with other academic institutions as to what it meant to have a veterans center, what services and what mechanisms were in place, and what did veterans need. I mean in this period, why Dr. Miller and I—we didn’t stalk—but, by golly, we followed veterans around on campus, and when they didn’t want to have pizza or coffee or meet with me, we went out. We did our research as to where their classrooms were, and we would walk the halls during breaks between classes.
I would ask professors if I could come in for a couple of minutes and talk to the veterans in their classes. We wanted to know: How many veterans are out there? What classes are they taking? What do they expect? What do they need? What do they enjoy? What are their expectations? What are their failures? We really wanted to get the granularity of, if we’re going to do something here, it needs to be something that serves veterans during this challenge of transition. We wanted to do so much more than just provide what is an essential task of a certifying officer, and we wanted to serve their family.
I thought the connection between Dr. Miller and me was absolutely perfect from my foxhole. My concern all along had been that the families weren’t being taken care of. Every time I’d come back from a deployment, and especially the numerous combat deployments I survived, my family suffered. Every time I came back, everybody would go, “How’s the general?” and my wife, Shelly, would go, “Hey, nobody’s asking me how I am.
Nobody’s asking your daughter, your son, your grandsons.” So I know who my heroes are: My heroes are the spouse that tries to be both Mom and Dad, and the precious children who wonder if they’re ever going to see you.
Hilary is that heartbeat. She has the perspective as a military spouse. She has the perspective as a sister of an active duty—still active duty—Marine Corps lieutenant colonel. So she has served. She knows the sacrifice of our families and how we need to provide assistance for them. She was the right person— whoever made that decision, it was a great decision—and I’ve been very humbled to be at her side and to learn from her.
I understand after your assessment period that you had two requirements to accept the job: the creation of a veterans center and Hilary as its director.
I wanted to make a proposal based upon what the University currently provides and where is that gap as to what the veterans and their families have expressed that they expect and that they need. So, in the research of that, it became obvious to me that this incredible University was accustomed to having a military presence from the onset of its creation and that the patriotic support of the University and the community already existed. And, in fact, it was fueled and fostered by Dr. Hilary Miller as she and a military committee created the concept and found the funds for the Veterans Memorial.
And then of course her ability and her knowledge. She had worked in a variety of jobs at the University, so people knew her and respected her. To me, coming into an academic environment was really a bizarre foreign terrain [laughing]. And so it really helped me to have someone who understood the vernacular and the pathways in the process and, through her own purity of motive and strength of
Hilary Miller dossier
Career:
MTSU’s Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center director since 2015; previously MTSU’s College of Liberal Arts recruitment and resources manager and assistant to the dean; former Texas State University financial aid officer; and past SunTrust Bank assistant vice president
Education:
Texas Christian University, B.B.A., 1992 University of Texas, M.Ed., 1997 Vanderbilt University, Ed.D., 2005
Military family connections: Military spouse and sibling
Her energy level and stamina is exhausting to mere mortals.
character, had earned the respect of the leaders of the University.
And what do you think she means to MTSU, particularly to the veterans and other military-connected members of the community?
We average about 1,200 veterans and military family members enrolled each semester as students. But we interact with thousands of veterans and their families every year worldwide. So the people who physically walk through the door of the Daniels Center probably represent 10% of our overall effort. For the people that are enrolled, Dr. Miller literally checks the grades of every veteran and family member who is a student. She is the voice of calm and wisdom and encouragement. And if you’re a student and you’re having difficulties, she’s there to sit down with you and resolve it.
But she’s also with me as a buddy team member when I reach out to the communities, to the businesses, whether it’s at the Sounds game, Predators game, stage of the Grand Ole Opry, or the soccer field. She and I are out there identifying the veterans that we are here to serve. And you don’t have to have any affiliation with MTSU—you just need to have questions or
need assistance, and we are here to serve. You don’t have to pay a bloody thing, or sign a document, or buy a widget that says True Blue on it. This University has the courage to do the right thing to serve the veterans and our families. And it’s based in my mind upon the selfless servant leadership of Dr. McPhee and the senior leaders.
What have you been amazed about that Hilary has been able to accomplish at the Daniels Center?
All along she and I have recognized what probably is the obvious, and that is as you build teams, who you’ve got on your team is important. All I did my entire military service was build and lead teams, of a variety of sizes and compositions and different levels of stressful environments. But as we were seeking as to who we would request to be on our team at the Daniels Center, able to have the flexibility, the knowledge, and the genuine care and concern for veterans and their families in transition across the globe in a variety of circumstance, she— like all of us—had some initial concerns of “Are we going to pick the right people? And are we going to instill in them the ability to serve the team success?” And it didn’t amaze me that she was successful at that.
I guess at times she would express a concern that she may not be able to get people moving in the right direction, but I never questioned her ability to inspire or instill the proper motivation in people. She’s done an incredible job at building and leading a team. And she’s a very humble human being and is a servant leader. And so at times I feel a need to remind her as to just how good she is, how much good she does serving others, and how much I’m humbled to be her colleague.
That’s pretty strong coming from a three-star general. What do you think are her best attributes?
Well, her obvious impressive intellect and her ever-present humility. And that, in spite of her intellect and her experience, she recognizes the reality for all of us that, “Hey, we all have a lot to learn, and we can all learn from everybody that we interact with.” And her energy level and stamina is exhausting to mere mortals.
And then what do you think the secret is to how well you two work together in partnership?
I think the secret to it is the commonality of our focus in serving others. Within the team at the Daniels Center, I don’t see any egos. This isn’t about me. It isn’t about her. It’s about our veterans and their precious families. And so we’re all able to view and to comprehend the simplicity of our definition of success, and that is serving others. Whatever they need. We’re going to find the answer. We’re going to provide the service. We’re going to serve them and let them know how much we appreciate their service and their sacrifice.
Do you two ever disagree or not be on the same page?
And if so, how do you work that out?
Yes, we have different approaches to complex problems that we face. And when we don’t agree on how we should address it, why, we sit down and have a very candid question-andanswer period. I mean, typically, if someone’s coming for funding and if she and I don’t agree on whether we have the available funding or what level of funding, one of my questions is always gonna be, okay, what if we’re not here, what’s plan B? You know, don’t be like my daughter, whose concept of a bank account is “I spend it until I need more and then I go to Dad.”
I mean, we all realize that emergencies occur that we may not have anticipated, and we’re very fortunate with the community support that we have funding sources which can assist people when they have emergencies. We talk about a lot of very heart-wrenching complex conditions in life with families and veterans in transition, and we have a very rigorous discussion, and then we figure out what is the best thing to do—once again, focused on benefiting the veteran and the family, not what’s best to do because I think it is.
Is there anything else you wanted to say about Hilary or what she does there?
Well, none of us are invisible, and I know that she’s a living, breathing, walking role model— I know she is to my daughter, and for that I’m forever thankful.
HILARY ABOUT
He is going to be high impact, and you better buckle your seatbelt.
What do you remember about meeting General Keith Huber?
Dr. Hilary Miller: He spoke at the ROTC award ceremony in spring 2014, and I was fortunate to sit next to him and was very impressed—and impressed with him as a speaker. So I asked him if he would speak at an Honors lecture series we were planning about veterans. He said yes, but wanted to schedule a full agenda. That November he met with cadets at PT [physical training], spoke to classes, discussed “making decisions during challenging times” with the deans, met with the president, and had the Honors lecture that evening. It was an incredibly full day for him—and for me [laughing].
During that time the Cope building was being renovated, and it was a disaster. There was all this asbestos abatement, and it looked like a war zone. I dropped him off to meet with Dr. McPhee, and after 10 minutes, Dr. McPhee asked me to join them and to “help get him on board. I want him to be hired by the University.” General Huber was kind of like, “I don’t even know what that means. We’re going to need to figure that out.” So he came back that weekend for the veterans football game. To me, that seems to be the real start of the relationship.
I had written up this white paper on why we needed a veterans center and a strong leader, and by Christmas, we learned from HR that General Huber could be hired temporarily as a nontenure-track faculty member. I was assigned to work for him 50%, and 50% for Mark Byrnes, who was then dean of Liberal Arts—which really meant I worked 100% for General Huber and still 50% for Mark Byrnes [laughing]! Having gone to West Point, General Huber had never been a traditional student. Even for his master’s degree, he was a night student because he never wanted to be away from his troops. He definitely did not have the attitude of “this is how
we’ve always done it.” Every single thing that he would ask me, I’d have to ask myself, “Well, why do we do it that way?”
We worked all spring together. He was not willing to be hired full time until he truly believed that this University was honorable and that the president could actually do what he said he would do. We set about getting to know the community and higher ed. On Monday after Easter 2015, we met back with the president, who still wanted to hire him—the president always wanted to hire him. I remember having a conversation with then-Provost Brad Bartel right before General Huber’s first full day, and he said, “What’s he going to do all day? Is he just going to walk up and down the halls?” And I just replied, “Sir, no, he is not going to do that. He is going to be high impact, and you better buckle your seatbelt.”
What impressed you about him from the start?
Everybody’s going to say the way he speaks, his experience, his humility. And all of those things are definitely true. But the fact is he could just be done. He had a full career. He could have found another job that was much higher paying. He was being courted by loads of different schools. And, if he wanted to work, he could do something that was definitely less challenging than taking on the VA and higher education.
I told him the other day, “You could have left active duty and said, ‘I have done the world some good,’ and been satisfied.” The University tries to make him take a day off—he’s supposed to take a day off every Friday in the summer, but today’s Friday, it’s summer, and he’s working. He was an officer below the general rank for more time than he was in the general rank, but he does not take directions well!
To answer your question, I am very, very amazed by his willingness to continue
LTG(R) Keith Huber dossier
Career:
Retired U.S. Army three-star general; 38 years, Special Forces (Green Berets), 14 of those years as a general officer; 5½ years of combat duty; overseas tours in Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Haiti, Honduras, Kosovo, and Afghanistan; MTSU’s senior advisor for veterans and leadership initiatives since 2015
Education:
U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York, B.S., 1975 Golden Gate University, Master of Public Administration, 1984
Military family connections: Grandfather served in World War I and father in World War II
He just wants to serve; it’s not about an ego.
serving and to continue giving so much of himself to every person he meets. Then, of course, he does it humbly, articulately, and with brains and acumen. But the fact he’s even doing it at all is what always knocks me over.
So what do you think he means to MTSU and to veterans and the other military-connected members in the community?
You know he’s going to do what he says he’s going to do, and he’s going to speak his truth. He’s going to make sure you know where he stands on issues. He’s not going to be posturing. He just wants to serve; it’s not about an ego. He’s just about getting it done correctly.
And what are you amazed about that he has contributed to the center?
He is definitely a visionary, and people are willing to listen to him because he’s had incredible military experiences. And because he’s an outsider to higher ed, he makes people rethink the status quo. He likes to try to play this card: “I’m just a simple infantryman, and I’m not from higher ed, so I’m just going to throw this idea out for your consideration,” and no one can laugh because they’re like, “Oh, well, he’s new.” I started calling him on it, saying, “Sir, you have been here a
decade—your tenure here is longer than some full professors.” But because he’s so genuine and he’s polite, people are willing to listen.
Really, he is very visionary, and he drives me nuts, because as a visionary, he doesn’t have to implement all these amazing things he comes up with. I do! But his ideas are fantastic. I always say yes. Now I might say, “Sir, hold on. Wait, back up for a second. How are we going to do this?” But I always say yes because I know it is always good and coming from the right place.
What do you think is the secret to how well you two work together?
Because we have a similar point of view: We want to work hard, we want things to be done well, and we want to serve military-connected people. None of it is about our own ego at all. In fact, both of us would prefer not to be out in front. Neither one of us needs to have any praise or thank you’s, and I believe both of our jobs are of vital importance. He is the person who is primarily creative and visionary, and I’m the one who directs, manages, and with our incredible team implements and gets the job done.
Do you guys ever disagree or not be on the same page, and if so, what happens?
Absolutely! People ask me regularly, “What’s going to happen if I say no to him?” And I just reply, “He will not care if you say no. But don’t blow hot air at him. Don’t say that’s the best idea ever and then don’t do it.” I tell him all the time, “Sir, we have to manage some expectations here,” or “We need to do this,” or “This is not right.” One of his frequent sayings is “people do things differently.” So, if he doesn’t like the way something is being done, I might remind him, “Sir, remember, people do things differently.” We both speak very frankly to each other. I consider his family as my family, and think that he would think the same.
What are some of the initiatives that you credit to him? Everything. For instance, why do we have the partnership with the Opry? How does that relate to veterans? General Huber says if that is how people connect to us and they’re going to give us the stage, then I want to take advantage of their generosity and be very thankful. So whatever that person or organization has to offer generously, whether it’s music or NASCAR or ballet tickets, we want to humbly accept it. It brings veterans and their families to us, and then we are able to provide help.
We started the center out of broadcloth. Nobody else was doing veteran higher education at that time. There wasn’t even a model. We got to be the model. That first semester, General Huber said, “We’re going to have a stole ceremony.” I was the interim director of an invisible center and supposedly only working half time for him. I didn’t really have a way to even know who was a veteran. Yet that first stole ceremony was just amazing. We made it happen.
The 9/11 Remembrance, that was 100% his idea. And we have had one every year including during COVID. We livestream that event too, because we need people all over the world to remember.
Asked once about whether he could be a symbolic figure on campus, you said he would have to slow down long enough for somebody to make a symbol of him. He is always here. He is everywhere. I think about how much all of us have changed in a decade, how much the world has changed. And to still get to do this really essential work is incredible. It is important for us to make sure that we live up to the Daniels family’s name. I told Mrs. Daniels when we open the center’s door every day, we see their names and we know that we must do an exceptional job, not just because it’s our own work ethic, but because we represent them. This is very much what each one of us believes. Perhaps what I told her also extends to General Huber. We want to represent him well, too. His legacy in the military is amazing. But the work he has done since leaving service is unmatched. It extends far beyond MTSU and Tennessee.
Is there anything else you want to say about the general? We keep several lists of “Huberisms.” I have some here on my wall that other commands have made. One in particular was written about him right before 9/11. It is a list of “Huber’s Rules,” and at the bottom it says, “Do the right thing for the right reason.” These were his life rules from decades ago, yet could have been written yesterday as they are things he tells us and demonstrates daily.
Vietnam War soldier and WWII sailor honored at special salutes to service to help remember veterans’ bravery
by Andrew Oppmann and Randy Weiler
Taking military-connected families out to the ballpark, raceway, or auditorium is a major way MTSU’s Daniels Center connects to veterans and then helps them access their rightful benefits—regardless of whether they have any link to the University.
Recognition of their service and special presentations to honor heroes are also key to the mission at these free-admission events in the greater Nashville area.
Highly decorated Vietnam War veteran Horace N. Stogner Jr. and D-Day survivor Bill Allen, for example, rank among those who have been recognized at Nashville Sounds baseball games saluting current and former U.S. military members.
Stogner, recognized at the Sounds’ Salute to Armed Forces game presented by MTSU on the eve of Memorial Day 2025, earned a Silver Star, four Bronze Stars (three for valor), and three Purple Hearts after deploying to Vietnam in the 1960s. Initially in the infantry after enlisting at age 17, he suffered a severe head wound from a mortar shell in 1968, marking his second Purple Heart, and returned in country with the 110th Cavalry before being shot again.
Allen, honored at the Sounds’ Military Appreciation Night in 2024 to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, was a 19-year-old Navy corpsman on June 6, 1944. His World War II landing craft made three round trips on D-Day to the beaches of Normandy, France, carrying tanks, troops, and trucks to the shore and bringing back the dead to the fleet. On the fourth trip, his ship hit an underwater mine, killing 117 sailors, with only Allen and 27 others surviving.
“I never expected anything like this,” Allen said of the warm reception by Sounds fans, players, and coaches.
Allen’s daughter, Patti Hutchinson; his son-in-law Glen Hutchinson; grandson Will Hutchinson; and great-grandson Van Hutchinson were with the 99-year-old veteran at the game.
“This was a big, big night for him,” Patti Hutchinson said.
MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee and LTG(R) Keith Huber, the University’s senior advisor for veterans and leadership initiatives, invited Allen and his family to take part in the event, which also coincided with True Blue Night at the Sounds.
“It was an honor to host Mr. Allen, meet his family, listen to his account of that fateful day 80 years ago, and show our appreciation for his service and sacrifice,” McPhee said.
Stogner, a North Carolina native now living at the Adams Place senior community, took summer classes to graduate from high school early in order to enlist and needed parental approval since he was underage. He arrived in the Republic of Vietnam in April 1966 and joined the Army’s 1st Battalion/7th Cavalry Regiment.
Sent stateside again per policy after his third Purple Heart, Stogner graduated from Brigham Young University in 1971 after his first term of service and met his future wife, Catherine, at Duke University. But his military service didn’t end there. He reenlisted in 1972, received a direct commission as an officer in 1974, and became a top-rated jumpmaster.
Stogner commanded a reconnaissance unit for the 82nd Airborne in Granada, commanded Airborne School at Fort Benning, and was a Pathfinder—a highly specialized soldier
tasked with preparing the area for airborne operations and providing navigational support to the aircraft.
Following his retirement from military service in 1996 as a captain, the Stogners moved to Murfreesboro, where he worked as an academic advisor for 10 years in MTSU’s Academic Support Center and Catherine Stogner served as an associate professor in the MTSU Department of Human Sciences before they retired.
Through the partnership with the MTSU Daniels Center, the Sounds also auction off special military jerseys worn during the service appreciation games and have specialty related items for purchase. The jersey auctions have raised over thousands of dollars to benefit the center in its mission to “serve all veterans and military-connected students and families through a variety of services to succeed academically, professionally, and personally,” Huber said.
It’s yet another way to give back to those who gave so much and help others remember their service and sacrifices.
Stogner’s dented helmet from enemy mortar shell
Stogner during infantry duty in Vietnam MTSU’s LTG(R) Keith Huber (l) with D-Day survivor Bill Allen and Sweet
Veteran Horace N. Stogner Jr. (l) with wife Catherine and Sounds manager Rick Sweet
ICONIC SUPPORT
Some of Tennessee’s iconic and big-name brands back veterans through MTSU’s Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center.
Red, White, and Blue
The Grand Ole Opry, the Nashville-based broadcast show that popularized country music nationwide, first spotlighted the Daniels Center as part of its Opry Salutes the Troops performance in 2019. The event each May features a pre-show red carpet parade, honors MTSU-connected military members or student veterans, and gives Huber the Opry stage to promote the center’s work over TV and radio airwaves across the country.
Center Ice
The NHL’s Nashville Predators pro hockey team established The General’s Fund through the Daniels Center to help support MTSU student veterans struggling financially and to recognize Huber’s military career. As part of its Ford Military Salute Week, the club solicits contributions by holding a Daniels Center pregame ceremony on ice, hosting MTSU, and picking a fan captain from among the ranks to fire up fans during intermission.
Double Shot
The maker of Jack Daniel’s famous Tennessee whiskey invited Army LTG(R) Keith M. Huber to meet with its employee veterans during the company’s recent Veterans Day events. The Daniels Center even set up the distillery’s veterans with a Veterans Service Officer on campus in November 2023 to help with their Veterans Affairs claims.
Roar of the Crowd
IndyCar’s thrilling Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix, already a tradition heading into its fifth running in 2025, has embraced the Daniels Center from the start. Freedom Friday features the MTSU center and its military-connected students and families prominently. Recently during the festivities, the Daniels Center picked up $350,000 in combined contributions from Southern Company and the Harbaugh Foundation.
Making the Rounds
The Nashville Sounds minor league baseball club holds an online auction of its Military Appreciation Jerseys to benefit the Daniels Center and recognizes the MTSU center and student veterans as part of its Salute to Armed Forces game each spring.
Nashville Superspeedway and Rackley 200 NASCAR sponsor Rackley Roofing of Carthage donate a portion of discounted tickets sold to the MTSU community and promote the Daniels Center at the annual June race weekend while honoring current and former military.
On the Pitch
Nashville SC, a hot ticket now at beautiful Geodis Park, has allowed the Daniels Center to pick the veteran of the match for every home game the last several years. The Major League Soccer club supplies veterans with tickets and food and highlights their service in front of the crowd.
Global Reach
As MTSU’s Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Family Center prioritizes those who need assistance at present, the center also continues to honor the past and focus on the future.
Entering its second decade, the Daniels Center keeps expanding in scope, reach, funding, and physical space to help both military-connected members at MTSU and American veterans across the globe.
Student enrollment now surpasses 1,200 regularly, and two state Veterans Service Officers have joined Veterans Affairs mental health and benefits services on campus—available to anyone. An upcoming renovation will increase the center’s office space from 3,200 to 4,079 square feet and consolidate operations from two separate floors into the Keathley University Center first-floor location.
“I think people are willing to put their folks in our office because they know that they don’t ever have to pay anything, that we’re going to close the gap, and we’re going to do work and do it well,” Daniels Center Director Hilary Miller said.
With the 2022 PACT Act recently expanding benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxins, center staff also are hosting and coordinating meetings with the VA for veterans at various companies such as Jack Daniel’s, Nissan, and local utilities. The Daniels Center also joined with the VA Tennessee Valley HealthCare System to host a community benefits event.
LTG(R) Keith Huber, MTSU’s senior advisor for veterans and leadership initiatives, even visits veterans’ houses when requested. At a NASCAR truck race in May 2025, the retired three-star general urged veterans among fans at Nashville Superspeedway to reach out to him personally if they need assistance with their federal benefits.
“I will be your action officer,” Huber said.
Huber and Miller recently began meetings with the St. Clair Senior Center as part of their service to help any former service member with VA benefits. Dependents, including those using Chapter 35 benefits for permanently disabled veterans, are among growing numbers of military-connected students provided increased services by the Daniels Center. New programming for this constituency and a Warriors Luncheon are sponsored each month.
The Daniels Center also continues to share the stories of past campus heroes. Historian Derek Frisby, a master instructor at MTSU, recently presented research about the lives of Robert Sarvis and Obry Moore, two of nearly 40 former students killed during World War II.
Increased fundraising means the MTSU center can continue expanding the mission. Over $400,000 was raised when former defense secretary and retired U.S. Marine four-star Gen. Jim Mattis spoke at a breakfast in 2024, while the eighth annual Veteran Impact Celebration took place in fall 2025.
The journey is never complete until no veteran or their family member is left behind on accessing the benefits they so highly deserve.
$8.5M+ in military aid processed
14,550 phone and in-person interactions
Source: Veterans Impact Card, 2024–25
1,430 military-connected students educated
PATRIOTIC PARTNERS
The Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center is a cost-effective public-private partnership.
We are thankful for the continued support from MTSU’s leadership—especially MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee, who had the vision to offer special resources for our veterans—as well as from our state and federal partners. We further appreciate the ongoing partnership with Daniel Dücker, executive director of the VA’s Tennessee Valley HealthCare System in the region; Travis Kraft, Veterans Benefits Administration assistant director for the Nashville region; and Tommy H. Baker, state commissioner of veterans services in Tennessee.
As a state public institution, MTSU finances administrative expenses. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) also provides two full-time employees on campus: an on-site mental health counselor and an on-site VetSuccess counselor. Additionally, the state of Tennessee provides two full-time
on-site Veteran Service Officers to assist veterans and their families with disability and compensation claims.
Without private support from individual donors and organizations, such as the Harbaugh Foundation, Southern Company, and Charlie Daniels’ The Journey Home Project, the Daniels Center also could not continue to increase the number of military-connected clients served and expand the scope of our services to assist veterans, service members, and their families.
Funds generated through community fundraising and event sponsorships provide scholarship and tuition assistance, employment programming, emergency financial assistance, and capital improvement.
LTG(R) Keith Huber
MTSU Senior Advisor for Veterans and Leadership Initiatives keith.huber@mtsu.edu 615-898-5267
Hilary Miller Daniels Center Director hilary.miller@mtsu.edu 615-904-8347
Christopher K. Rochelle
Assistant Director and Employer Search Agent christopher.rochelle@mtsu.edu 615-904-8489
Jessica Pierson
Assistant Director and Veterans Affairs School Certifying Official jessica.pierson@mtsu.edu 615-898-2601
Shannon J. Brown
Veterans Affairs Specialist and School Certifying Official shannon.brown@mtsu.edu 615-898-5040
