Revisiting how the ESC came to be, over 25 years later
By Hailey Murphy
Last summer, the Ethnic Student Center underwent a cleaning project– and in the process, dug up relics from ESC’s past. In the storage closet were boxes full of archives, including event portfolios, posters and club founding documents. For a moment, ESC members took a glimpse into the past, and got a grasp on the lives of those who made ESC what it is today.
Camilla Meija, ESC Culture Education Coordinator, was involved in the cleaning project. Along with ESC Program Coordinator Maria Perez de Henderson and other ESC students she organized the records for the University Archives and Records Center. During this process, Meija came across lots of neat items.
She saw how the Oceanic Student Association went through a shift in identity, formerly being known as Hui’ O Hawai’i. She saw Black Students Union’s founding document from 1969, which was the only means of organization for students of color at the time. A personal favorite of hers was a packet full of meeting agendas. These agendas detailed conversations about how the Ethnic Student Center would be implemented, where the funding would come from and who would lead ESC.
“It was really relatable. We’re here. Students of color– we’re still here on this campus and we’re still doing events,” said Camilla. “A lot of the events that students and ESC clubs put on are a continuation of old events.”
The ESC held it’s grand opening on May 21, 1991. Viking Union 109 was filled with students across various ethnic organizations. The ESC had ordered enough coffee and cookies for 60 people. It wasn’t nearly enough for the turnout that night.
This grand opening was a statement. It showed the need for students of diverse backgrounds to have a common place to come together. It showed that support would be available for these students. Most of all, it showed that the Ethnic Student Center had arrived, and it was here to stay.
Before that night, the only common meeting place for students of color was the Multicultural Center, and it wasn’t even an official space. It was meant to be an office where students could go for support or resources. It was only when students encountered one another at the Multicultural Center that it became a hangout spot for minority students.
At the time, Western’s student body was almost completely white. So when students of color found each other, it was only natural that they started gathering at the Multicultural Center. These were the people who could most relate to their campus experiences.
The Multicultural Center accommodated as best they could. They got a couch and installed a refrigerator. Yet there were space limitations, so students had to squeeze into their lounge.
“The Multicultural Center was more of a drop-in advising kind of place,” said Michelle Vendiola, president of the Native American Student Union (NASU) when ESC was founded. “It’s in a location where the Scholarship Center is now… It’s super small. There’s only room for two offices, and although we were few on campus, that’s where we migrated to. We found each other there. So we ended up starting to hang out there and crowding in.
“What was good about it is that there were files stored there that used to be stored in the VU– records of past club activities from the 70’s,” Vendiola continued. These files were from four former clubs: Black Student Union, American Indian Student Union, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA) and Asian American Student Union. They operated on the fourth floor of the VU throughout the 70’s. That is, until the clubs were no longer a priority for the university and they lost their office space.
However, when students found these files from over a decade earlier, they saw a new opportunity. The clubs were renewed, and the Multicultural Center became their office. Yet the problem remained; these students needed more space.
This led to the creation of the Ethnic Student Alliance, comprised of the five ethnic club presidents: Salvadore Martin from MEChA, Cinque Finnie from the Black Student Union, Iaonnis from International Club, Michelle Vendiola (then Michelle George) from NASU and Jessica Lee from the Asian-American/Pacific Islander Student Union. The Alliance gained the support of faculty and students. Meetings were held. Yet no progress was made.
So one day, Salvadore Martin decided to make a change. He went to President Mortimer’s office, with a pile of books and a sign that read: students of color need a place to go. There he sat for the rest of the day, studying with his sign beside him. When told to leave, Martin stayed put, understanding that he had a right to occupy the public space.
“Then the next day we all joined him in the office, and asked allies to join in, and asked as many people to crowd into the office as possible…That’s when we first got the attention of the president,” said Vendiola.
This was a pivotal moment in the creation of the ESC, when students started gaining momentum. The alliance then heard about upcoming VU renovations, and knew this was the perfect chance to claim their own space. They approached the AS Board of Directors and the Board of Trustees asking that funds be allocated to create an Ethnic Student Center. Students attended budget hearings, held marches and drafted an official proposal.
After one year of work, students of color finally received funding for the creation of the center. By January of 1989, a committee was created to assist with the planning. Another two years passed of intense negotiation and budget hurdles before the center was finally complete.
The ESC’s presence would make a difference in the following years. Between the fall of 1990 and 1991, only nine new students of color enrolled at Western; between the fall of 1992 and 1993, 142 new students of color enrolled. Attendance of the annual ESC Conference rose from 55 in 1991 to 130 in 1994 More clubs joined the ESC, including the Khmer Student Association, Vietnamese Student Association, Mixed Identity Student Organization and more. In 1995, the ASVP for Diversity was created as a link between ESC and the AS Board of Directors.
In 1998, Initiative 200 was passed, ending affirmative action for Washington students. However, in 2009, Western reinstated an affirmative action policy to help students who may have difficulty accessing higher education.
When the ESC began operating, less than 9 percent of students at Western were of color. Today, it’s over 25 percent. The ESC surely contributed to this increase, in one way or another. These numbers can attest to progress they’ve helped initiate. What it can’t measure, however, are the lives impacted by the ESC.
“Many of the students– most all of them who graduate– say they just wouldn’t have been able to make it through Western if they hadn’t been involved in the ESC,”said Vendiola. “I think that’s probably the most rewarding thing I’ve ever heard as far as getting this done.”
The ESC has done so much more than diversify campus. Its affirmed the identity of students. It’s taught students how to lead their community. It’s inspired students to pay it forward.
“There’s a high population of ESC alumni that have gone into education, whether it’s K-12 or higher ed; recruitment, student affairs, teachers… [They’re] really service oriented students and community leaders,” Michael Vendiola, an ESC founding student and former coordinator said.
Now, 26 years after its founding, the ESC has come full circle. As a result of student demands, the VU will be undergoing a renovation. This project will create a new space for students of color to come together. Just like in 1991, students have demanded that their voices be heard– and again, they have won the victory they deserve.