Multicultural Center opens, provides new space for student conversation
Following years of discussion, the goal of a physical space for diversity and inclusion has finallly come to fruition. The new center, a renovated version of its former area in Murray Hall, offers more room for student interaction with better accessibility.
A project that has been in the works since 2016 is finally complete.
Following an interfaith blessing and ceremony with members of the Board of Trustees and the college presidents on Thursday, Sept. 23, the Multicultural Center celebrated its grand opening for students on Friday, Sept. 24 in Murray Hall. The event featured a reception with food, student speakers and the opportunity for students, staff and community members to see the new space for the first time.
Conversations about the creation of a new space for the Intercultural and International Student Services offices began in 2016. Students expressed how they wanted a new and shared space.
“IISS was just an office” Sydney Robinson ‘19, Diversity and Inclusion program manager said. “Students wanted a full space where they were able to utilize it whether they worked in that office or not.”
The services are essentially the same as the former IISS offices, but the goal is to make it a more welcoming and open space. The space will also be large enough to host club meetings.
“The Multicultural Center will continue to foster conversations and community within CSB/SJU for Black, Indigenous and people of color,” Intercultural LEAD member Oyuky Aragon-Flores said. “More importantly, it will create a space where my friends and I will feel comfortable and safe to be ourselves.”
After the joint Senate’s Call to Action released in the fall of 2020, both students and senators reignited the fight to create a new and improved space.
After hearing what students were looking for, the planning process began. Multiple new spaces on both campuses and a new building were considered.
The Multicultural Center staff determined that keeping the current space in Murray Hall where it had previously been housed was best.
The new space houses nearly all the same student organizations and offices apart from the Institute for Women’s Leadership and Advocates for Inclusive Mentoring, which are new to the office.
The remodel includes a new entrance on the side of Murray Hall with a patio and gas fireplace. An interior wall was knocked down to create an open area to seat 60 people for events with full technological capabilities.
New office and lounge furniture, a small kitchen, a reception desk near the front door and a conference room were also added to the space, in addition to new paint, flooring and artwork.
The basement of Murray Hall features a new ‘Lavender Lounge’ that will be the home of QPLUS and the Gender Affirmation Closet when completed. Student art will also be included in the space.
“I think the physical space really matters,” Director of the Multicultural Center Malik Stewart said. “Once we have student fingerprints on the space, then I think it will have what we were looking for.”
The art for the space includes the CSB/SJU Indigenous land acknowledgment, paintings commissioned by an art student, photographs of past and current students, and a mural that was done by art students inspired by work done in a Latino and Latin American studies class.
Accessibility is also an important part of this space.
“The accessibility to us is going to change…now we have a set of professional staff and student employees who are easier to get in contact with,” Robinson said.
The main goal of space is to create a place for students that is less intimidating for students to come to for help, do homework, host events or eat lunch.
Aside from the new space, the Multicultural Center is also focusing on changes surrounding the Festival of Cultures. In the past it has only been one Saturday, but this year it will be a week-long event.
“We reached out to a lot of other departments…this year our hope is that Festival of Cultures feels like a CSB/SJU event and not just a Multicultural Center event,” Stewart said.
The event starts on Oct. 11, National Coming Out Day, and goes through Oct. 16.
“I’m just excited for it to be ours…starting to see students in the space will be exciting…we want this space to be used and to cultivate a good environment,” Stewart said.