Members of the Center for Race Relations came out in force Monday afternoon to solicit student input regarding future plans for the Multicultural Center and the International House.
The proposed merger of the two centers was postponed Saturday by Student Affairs administrators to gather student opinions on the future of the cultural centers on campus.
“We were providing a space for students to voice their opinions,” said junior Taylor Damiani, one of the organizers of the event.
During the three-hour event on the Bryan Center Plaza, students were invited to express their personal connections to the center with colored marker on a large white sheet.
Zoila Airall, assistant vice president for student affairs, wrote in a letter sent to the Council of Cultural Group Presidents Saturday evening that the merger will not occur next semester as proposed. The positions of Staff Specialist Juanita Johnson and Director of the Multicultural Center Julian Sanchez will still be eliminated, Airall said.
No students were informed of the original plans for the merger until Airall announced the formation of the “Global Cultures Center” to a meeting of the Council of Cultural Group Presidents last Monday night.
Although opponents approved the decision to delay, many said they feel it is just an initial step in reversing several of the changes indicated by the merger.
“I feel that while [the administration] is taking time to include student input, now they’re still forcing the idea of the Global Cultures Center that won’t serve the needs that the International House and the Multicultural Center do,” said sophomore Bridget Gomez, a member of the CRR.
The delay will allow administrators and students to discuss future plans for the MCC and the International House, Airall said at a meeting of student leaders Sunday afternoon. Airall and Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta will create a task force chaired by a student and a staff member to address the needs of minority and international students at Duke. The task force must submit suggestions to Airall by Spring Break.
“I’m appreciative that the University, and specifically Dr. Airall, have taken this conciliatory step that they were not ready to take last week,” said junior Jack Zhang, convener of the Council of Cultural Group Presidents, who also works at the MCC. “But then again, I don’t think all the terms of the student petition have been met.”
Sue Wasiolek, dean of students and assistant vice president for student affairs, was at Sunday’s meeting to address student concerns. Wasiolek said she hopes the creation of the task force will foster a collaborative effort to address the needs of minority and international students.
“ I think that the students are having the opportunity to get a better understanding of what we were proposing and why were proposing it,” Wasiolek said in an interview Monday. “That being said, there is a lot of time and opportunity for much student input and it’s not yet determined which direction this process will go.”
More than 500 students have signed a petition that was first circulated by the CRR at Wednesday night’s forum, Zhang said. The petition calls for the cancellation of the merger and the return of the two laid-off staff members. The petition was delivered to administrators Monday by members of the Self Determination Council, a group of approximately 20 students who oppose the merger.
Sophomore George Pearkes, an international student from Canada who is not affiliated with either center, said he was shocked by the student reaction. He said he felt the outcry has been largely overblown, and emerges from student failure to recognize the need to cut costs.
“I think people are looking to pick a fight,” he said. “I don’t really think it matters.... All of this hullabaloo over it, is, if not unreasonable, hyperbolic for sure.”
In an e-mail sent to the student body Monday morning, senior Spencer Eldred, Duke Student Government vice president for student affairs and co-president of the Native American Student Alliance, encouraged students to express their opinions to their respective senators, as well as to members of the Self-Determination Council and the administration. The e-mail also invited students to voice their concerns at this Wednesday’s open forum at 8 p.m. in CIEMAS.
“We’ll just have to wait and see what happens on Wednesday night when DSG deliberates,” Zhang said.
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