Student Affairs administrators have postponed merging the International House and the Multicultural Center to create time for student input.
Zoila Airall, assistant vice president for student affairs, wrote in a letter sent to the Council of Cultural Group Presidents Saturday that the “integration” of the International House and the Multicultural Center into the Global Cultures Center will not occur next semester as planned. The positions of staff specialist and director of the Multicultural Center will still be eliminated, Airall confirmed.
The delay will allow administrators to create a task force to involve students in a discussion about the International House and the Multicultural Center, Airall said at a meeting of student leaders Sunday afternoon. No students were consulted before the merger plan was announced at a Council of Cultural Group Presidents meeting last Monday night, Airall said.
“I have admitted to you that the thing I should have done that I did not do is bring people in,” Airall said Sunday. “I am really sorry that I did not come and ask for community conversation and dialogue.”
Approximately 150 students showed up to oppose the merger at a Wednesday night meeting organized by the student-run Center for Race Relations. Students at the meeting were upset that they were not told of plans for the merger before it was announced. They also questioned how one center could handle the disparate needs of international students and American minorities.
“We’ve been left out. We don’t feel like we’ve been informed,” senior Victoria Bright, a representative of the Self-Determination Council, said Sunday, “You have made this decision for a reason.... We need to know those reasons.”
About 500 students have signed a statement circulated by the Self-Determination Council, a group of about 20 students who oppose the merger, said council member Nadia James, a junior. The petition calls on Duke administrators to cancel the merger and retain the two Multicultural Center staff members slated to be dismissed. Members of the council will deliver the petition to administrators, including Airall, today.
Airall and Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta will create a task force chaired by a student and a staff member to examine how to meet the needs of minority and international students at Duke, Airall said. The task force will submit recommendations to Airall by Spring Break.
“Don’t be distrustful, allow the process to happen,” Airall said to student leaders in a Sunday meeting. “Whatever the task force brings to me, I’m going to support.”
Airall added that the exact wording for the task force’s mission has not yet been determined, but it will only examine possibilities for the International House and Multicultural Center.
“I think people make mistakes, and I think a mistake was made, and I’m glad to see administrators are taking action to fix the problem,” said International Association President Alexis Rosenblum, a senior. “I’m very happy that the merger was stopped for now and the task force will be put together.”
Senior Spencer Eldred, Duke Student Government vice president for student affairs, has been approached to help lead the task force, but has not yet decided if he will do so. He said he is concerned that too few students will be included in the discussions and that the task force will not have the opportunity to oppose the layoffs of Julian Sanchez, current director of the Multicultural Center, and Staff Specialist Juanita Johnson.
“Zoila asked us tonight to dream big, and so I think it will be difficult to dream big after confirming that the firings are non-negotiable,” he said.
Multicultural Center Assistant Director Linda Capers will run the center once Sanchez and Johnson have left. “Additional staff resources from throughout Student Affairs” will help maintain the center’s programs with fewer staff members, Airall wrote in the letter Saturday. Airall said she does not know how much money will be saved by dismissing Sanchez and Johnson.
Airall said Duke is committed to maintaining both multicultural and international programming, and that no currently-offered programs will be eliminated. She said she viewed the integration of the International House and Multicultural Center as a positive step that would bring together several communities on campus.
“I thought it would be something that would be new and exciting, not something that would be horrible and devastating,” she said.
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