By Gwen Frost
On December 7, at the Associated Students Board meeting, students from the Ethnic Student Center stood and gave a statement. Read by Junior Millka Solomon, it called for support from faculty, students and the University to ask that Western act transparently in the development and implementation of the multicultural center.
As majority stake holders, Solomon asked for the opportunity to communicate and implement what students of the ESC need, “not what the university thinks we need.”
“We want to be very clear that as ESC students we will not be silenced,” Solomon said, asking for impactful communication as opposed to the University using their identities as a diversity initiative. “Our existence on this campus is more than just a percentage.”
About 84 percent of the new space will be for AS usages between the Resource and Outreach Programs and ESC, and then about another 14 percent will be six individual offices, according to. This 14 percent is being called “Multicultural services.”
The student’s statement voiced disapproval of the University “going into the construction of the center without us knowing what will be going into that space. It is then why we (as majority stakeholders) are demanding the University not only include us in the process for deciding what will be in that space but also give us the right to decide what services WE as students need, not what the University thinks we need.”
In response to the ambiguity surrounding plans for Multicultural services, Vice President for Enrollment and Student Services Melynda Huskey said on February 15 they have not yet made any decisions about who might be housed in those six individual offices.
“When I arrived in July, they had preserved some space knowing that there are gaps in the services we are currently providing, and professionally staffing for students,”she said.“We’ve got 18 months before we have a grand opening, that gives us time to really think through and make sure we’ve consulted all of the right people.
The students asked that among possible designations, the space could be used for an Undocumented Student Center, a Tribal Liaison, a Culturally-Proficient Counselor, and/or LGBTQ+ Resource staff. Huskey said those were “all sensible options.”
However, she said the Tribal Liaison may be housed in a different place.
“It’s really an intergovernmental job rather than a student services job,” she said.“There’ll be a student services dimension, but that’s a government-to-government job.”
Huskey also said that the MCC could however be the right spot for an LGBTQ+ director, but that an Undocumented Students Center needs to definitely be considered with an emphasis on exploring safety measures, and appropriate location, especially “when we’re thinking about a place where vulnerable students can gather that’s publicly labeled and known.”
Said University Communications and Marketing Director Paul Cocke, “nothing has been decided, and there’s time to decide in consultation with students and others.”
Huskey said that AS VP for Diversity Erick Yanzon has started scheduling Visioning Conversations, where students who currently use the ESC can have communication about current gaps in services, and further opportunities for the implementation of said services.
“I think it’s fair to say that students have a high level of frustration about the past years that it’s taken to get things done,” she said. “Sometimes you have to go slow at first to go fast at the end. I need a little bit of time to go slow before I can go fast before I really know what’s going on before I jump in.”
“I really want this to be right. It really matters.”
The MCC has been a student initiative, specifically students of color, and has been built on the unpaid labor and economic support that students have been and continue to provide for this project.
“ I think just the space itself is going to do some of that recognition and that history-keeping of the hard work of students and the difficult challenges they faced at different times,” Huskey said.
Bringing in professionals who are properly aligned with similar goals can help take some of the burden off of students’ shoulders, which is another way the University is recognizing students efforts, said Huskey.
Huskey worked at Washington State University for 20 years, which has a 25-year-old Multicultural Center. WSU’s MCC has a peer mentor program, funded by external foundations, which gives stipends to students who can connect with new students and provide a touch point and connection to cultural communities.
“It is a program I would love to move towards here,” said Huskey.
With 18 months until the opening, there isn’t yet a hard deadline for when decisions on these six offices will be made, but Huskey said that students will be included in representation on hiring and vetting committees.
“We’re working towards a process of making sure we invite students to serve on committees wherever possible,” she said.
In further consideration of including majority stakeholders (the students) on the decision making going on for the MCC, Huskey said she has met with students individually to communicate.
“We seem to kind of communicate by declaration here. There’s a written statement that goes out on social media or email, from ESC or different student groups, and I hope we can works towards cultivating more direct conversation and interaction.”