For more than 20 years, administrators and students expressed the need for a place specifically dedicated to promoting diversity issues and cultural understanding.
After a year of planning, the Center for Intercultural Understanding opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the Danna Center lounge Wednesday.
“This has been talked about for over 20 years,” Walter Harris, provost of Academic Affairs said. “I’m very excited to see it finally happen.”
Communications Instructor Lisa Martin, interim director of the Center for Intercultural Understanding, expressed her gratitude to all who helped make the center a reality. She also welcomed everyone to come into the office at anytime.
“Students should just walk in,” she said. “We have what we call Oprah after-the-show-discussions.”
Martin wants students to feel like they can come to center with any concerns they have.
“We’ve been officially designated as a SafeZone,” she said. “This means students can come in with any concerns they have without fear of reprisal. You’re not just talking to some administrator. You’re talking to someone who wants to help you.”
Ranika Sanchez, communications sophomore, works in the center along with Pamela Kauveiyakul, communications/sociology senior, and Pauline Green, English writing senior.
“This is a job where you want people to come in,” Sanchez said. “You’re constantly meeting people.”
The center has been working with other organizations, such as the Student Government Association and the Social Justice Scholars, to put on programming to increase diversity awareness. It raised $3, 565.95 for its Haitian relief fund.
“They’re among the poorest people in the word. Haiti is 95 percent black and mostly poor,” Martin said. The center accepts donations at Hibernia in an account titled CARE in hopes of reaching its $100,000 goal.
Recently, Martin and Tim Albert, associate director of Residential Life, spoke to the residents in Biever Hall about a racial slur written on a resident assistant’s door.
“The first thing I did was to apologize on behalf of Loyola University,” Martin said. “They shouldn’t have to be exposed to that kind of the behavior in the 21st century. I told them that the only place for that kind of thing was in history books.”
“It is something we need to address right away,” said Robert Reed, director of Residential Life. “That usually drives the person underground. Sometimes when people think they’re hurting others, they’re actually hurt their own cause by solidifying the campus. The events last year made this happen.”
The center provides proactive leadership in fostering respect for the right to be different, as stated in its mission statement.
“I think of last year when someone wrote racial slurs on the [announcement] boards. It seems like the students were fighting it by themselves. Now it seems like the faculty are backing the students,” Sanchez said.
Nicole Waivers can be reached at [email protected].
