Representatives of Coastal Carolina University and CresCom Bank hosted a naming ceremony Monday to announce the name of the university's Military and Veterans Studies Center -- the CresCom Bank Center for Military and Veterans Studies at Coastal Carolina University. The new name is the result of long-term support CresCom Bank has committed to the center over the course of the next 10 years. Since 2010, the bank has also been a sponsor of the center's cable television program "Military Memoirs," which showcases oral history interviews with American veterans.

The center, directed by author and historian Rod Gragg, will continue to engage in a three-fold mission: to collect and preserve the oral history of American veterans in partnerships with the Library of Congress and service branch archives; to promote outreach programs designed to encourage public recognition of the service and sacrifices of veterans; and to conduct research into American military history. The center will also continue to produce "Military Memoirs."

"Coastal Carolina University has been designated as a 'Military-Friendly School' for four years now," said CCU President David A. DeCenzo, "and an important component of the university's focus on veterans and active-duty military is the Center for Military and Veterans Studies here at CCU. CresCom Bank was a key supporter of the center when it was established in 2010, has continued to exercise a vital role in fulfilling the center's mission, and is committed to recognizing the contributions of our veterans through a long-term relationship with the center. Therefore, it is both appropriate and a genuine pleasure for me to announce today that the center will now be known as the CresCom Bank Center for Military and Veterans Studies at Coastal Carolina University."

"Through its long-time support for the Center for Military and Veterans Studies and other actions, CresCom Bank has demonstrated a true heart for America's veterans and active duty military," Gragg said. "And the bank's commitment to the center's future dramatically enhances our mission to the veterans' community."

"We appreciate what Coastal Carolina University has accomplished through the center, and the bank is committed to supporting the center's outreach to our veterans' communities now and in the future," said David L. Morrow, CEO of CresCom Bank. "CresCom Bank has more than 700 veterans enrolled in our veterans banking programs, and we know firsthand what a tremendous, positive contribution they make to our communities."

Originally founded in 2010 in a partnership with the U.S. Library of Congress, the center is located in the Coastal Science Center on CCU's east campus.