At the beginning of October, the first display in the Culture Room will be unveiled after months of heated debate and student protest. The Culture Room, which is replacing the location of the Center for Intercultural Understanding at the front of the Danna Center, is set to be a multimedia room celebrating the student body’s diversity.” Everybody has a story to share,” said Chris Cameron, director of co-curricular programs.
According to Cameron, the Culture Room will be a venue for student organizations to create displays with the available technology to educate their peers.
“This is a way to reach students who wouldn’t otherwise engage in dialogue,” Cameron said.
The official opening was set to be at the beginning of the school year, but was pushed back until the beginning of October when all of the media equipment would be ready. In the mean time, a presentation of photographs and essays are on display, capturing the stories of students during the evacuation for Hurricane Gustav. The first real exhibit will honor Loyola’s Jesuit values.
The opening comes in the midst of an unsettled debate, much of which is rooted in the moving of the Center for Intercultural Understanding to the second floor of the Danna Center. While it was initially settled that the office of director, Lisa Martin, would keep its location next to the bookstore, plans shifted at the beginning of the summer. Students quickly planned a sit-in and circulated a petition in response.
“We were going to try and get all of these meetings with the administration. They knew what the meetings were for, but I felt like it was a stall tactic because before we could have the meetings, they tore the CIU out anyway,” said Jasmine Bailey, marketing senior, who helped organize the protest.
“If it’s working before why change it?” she said.
The Center for Intercultural Understanding was created in 2004 after a number of racial slurs started appearing across campus. It allowed students and faculty to voice concerns over issues of bias and discrimination, but also became a setting for open dialogue.
“The place was crowded. It was like a restaurant at lunch time,” Martin said. “It was a great way to start a rapport between teachers and students.”
Much of the interaction, she added, was possible because the center was located in such a “highly visible area” that allowed anyone to walk into a discussion.
Now Martin is spending most of her time on the first floor of the Danna Center to “remind everyone that we’re still here.” While fewer students have come to her this year, she hopes that the addition of glass walls and new signs will bring more attention to the center.
“It’ll work. It’ll just take a little more elbow grease,” she said.
In response, Cameron noted that the change allotted more office space to the center. It seemed logical for a private matter concerning bias to take place on the second floor where other counseling offices are located.
“To be fair, I have always supported the expansion of the center. The center’s work is critical to students,” he said.
Bailey questions whether the move will make it easier for students to seek the Center for Intercultural Understanding.
“I think that the placement was an attempt to lessen its significance. The center was moved when it was working perfectly fine downstairs,” she said. “I would love to see a real culture center, a place where students really can gather around and share their history and their experience together, but I really don’t feel like this little room is going to be it.”
Masako Hirsch can be reached at [email protected].
