Student Government Association Senator Ronnie Hill, a senior majoring in civil engineering, introduced a resolution during the Feb. 16 Senate meeting that called for further development of the Intercultural Diversity Center. Since then, the IDC has become a key component of the SGA election cycle and has been discussed by all three candidates.
The IDC is a division of the department within the University’s division of Student Life that was created in Feb. 2016. The center works to promote diversity and inclusivity through programming, partnerships and other aspects. It also functions as a place for students from all walks of life to meet, study, and get to know other students.
But since the IDC’s creation, the center has been placed in the Riverside annex and somewhat forgotten. Three University students are hoping to change that.
Obie Moultrie, a junior majoring in biology, became involved with the IDC through his work with organizations that work in areas similar to the IDC such as UA Crossroads and Spectrum. Moultrie now serves as the coordinating student assistant for the Center.
One area that has been outlined by Hill, Moultrie and the SGA presidential candidates who have discussed the needs of the IDC is the necessity of hiring a chief diversity officer.
“[Hiring a chief diversity officer] would have a monumental impact just through connecting all of the different areas that are doing diversity work on campus already,” Moultrie said.
Moultrie said the officer would work as “point person” to connect the different diversity initiatives of the various organizations.
Yasmine Nana-Yeboah, a junior majoring in American studies and public relations, said another area in which the Center needs help is having greater recognition. Nana-Yeboah, who serves as a student coordinator for the center, said many students and professors are not even aware of the IDC’s existence.
“When there is tours given on campus I feel like [the IDC] is something they should know about,” she said. “So we go to all these housing, residential areas, I feel like it should be almost a required thing so people can’t say it’s not here.”
In addition to the center’s needs for new computers and other resources, Senator Hill also discussed the need for a new location for the center. Hill said he has discussed the Center’s need for re-location with Dana Bonifacio-Sample, the director of the Ferguson Student Center, and said that since his resolution passed, his very next step is to work on the Center’s re-location.
“Currently its a lot of spaces open in the Ferg right now and I think, don’t get me wrong, a lot of them are student spaces where possibly students can go sit down between classes but there’s still other rooms in [the Ferg that are] open,” he said.
Hill said having the Center in a more centralized part of campus such as the Ferguson Center would not only benefit the IDC, but could also benefit the University.
“I think it can help the University with recruiting and things like that… I think it’s a great place to put it somewhere central,” he said.
