As it currently stands, the proposed Multicultural Center is slated to open mid-spring in a closet of the Octagon donated by the Black Students Union (BSU). To the members of the Multicultural Center Committee, this space is simply inadequate. For one, the space is too small and isolated. On another level, they are concerned that the direct affiliation with the BSU might send the wrong message in terms of the overall inclusiveness of the center.

Members of the committee came before the Association of Amherst Students (AAS) Monday night with an alternative: open the Multicultural Center in the basement of Keefe Campus Center, in the office currently occupied by the AAS itself.

“The campus center is basically the hub for all student activity … this [Multicultural] Center is for all students,” M.J. Smith ’09, a member of the Multicultural Center Committee said in his opening statement, commenting on the allure of the proposed office in the Campus Center. “It’s greatest value is that it would be valuable to a large number of students on campus. Our biggest goal is that it be seen by all students on campus.” Smith also noted that an added benefit of the Campus Center location was its close proximity to other student organization offices, including the José Martí room of La Causa, the Asian Students Association (ASA) office, the Women’s Center and the Center for Community Engagement (CCE).

What ensued Monday night was a lively, contentious debate on the implications of the move for both the Multicultural Center and the senate itself. Some senators were miffed by the apparent disrespect shown towards the AAS by the proposed displacement. Others were worried that the AAS office, like the closet in the Octagon, wasn’t big enough for the Center and that they should fight for much more. In the end, the AAS did not reach any conclusions and decided to form an ad hoc committee that will report back to the senate next Monday.

The Multicultural Center is the result of considerable planning. It is envisioned as a central base for any students feeling underrepresented on campus.

“There are a number of colleges, especially in the Five-College area, that already have a multicultural center,” Somaliyah Al-Mahdi ’09, also a member of the center’s committee, stated in her opening remarks. “This is a priceless thing to have on the campus, I think, especially, this size and with so much diversity.”

At the meeting, the committee outlined its plans for the center that consist of a mentoring program that would aim to support underrepresented students, including those of low socioeconomic background, underrepresented ethnic minorities and, at some point, athletes. The center would also include information on campus affinity groups, a library and easily accessible alumni information to aid in the internship and job search process.

Under Monday night’s proposal, the AAS would move to a smaller office next year, also in the Keefe basement. Some senators asked why the Multicultural Center couldn’t use this office.

Co-Chair of the ASA Lucy Zhou ’10 responded that the proposed office was simply too small. “It comes down to the fact that everything we want to put in the Multicultural Center won’t fit in that office,” she said.

Senator Josh Stein ’08 opened the senate comments with a strong rebuke to the proposal. “They [the administration] don’t think what we [the AAS] do matters. What we do does matter. We need that room for a lot of reasons. And even if we didn’t need the room, the fact is they just go to us because they think we’re an easy target. I honestly can’t believe we’re having this discussion.”

Senator Pat Benson ’08 later stood by Stein, urging the senate not to give up its office. “For them to push us aside as a group is ludicrous,” he said, especially with the AAS being the “only democratic organization” on campus.

Yet many other senators were against the proposal for another reason—they didn’t think it was good enough. “We are strongly in support of the Multicultural Center, but we cannot commit ourselves to what could be the closing of a new chapter of student activity,” senator Claire Jen ’10 stated in an e-mail after the meeting.

Jen and several others senators voiced worries that receiving an office would be the one and only victory for the center. “I believe that the Multicultural Center should be much, much more than a little room in the basement of Keefe—it should be an actual center in the sense that the Campus Center or Career Center is,” said senator Kat Wu ’10 after the meeting.

Smith cautioned that this approach might be too far-sighted. “I am fearful to death that if we as a student body do not allocate spaces, do not take the burden on this, there will be nothing. Not a closet, not a building, not even a plaque,” he said in response to those who thought the Multicultural Center deserved much more than an office in Keefe.

The one result of the meeting was the formation of an ad hoc committee consisting of five senators—Wu, Jen, Michael Britt ’10, Nick Pastan ’09 and Chase Tanenbaum ’09—as well as AAS President Pan Venkatraman ’09. They will explore where the center can be located and report back to the senate next Monday.

Despite senators’ concerns, at the meeting and afterwards, Venkatraman remained a strong supporter of the proposed office swap. “Considering the activities and resources it seeks to promote, the Multicultural Center would better utilize the space of the AAS office. The AAS office is currently used for a few meetings and as a hub for the AAS treasurer to organize accounts and checks—all functions that can be adequately performed in other spaces,” Venkatraman told The Student. “I sincerely hope that after a week to think about this issue, the AAS can reach a sensible, reasoned decision that fully considers the wishes of the students,” he added.

The lack of immediate action left some students dismayed. “Though a minority of AAS members made reasonable arguments for and against the requested location of the center, expressing concern in its finding a space, others were merely in love with their own pompous rhetoric, speaking with the sort of righteous apathy only awarded to those of the privileged class,” said Al-Mahdi.

Yet Britt cautioned that the College administration, not the AAS, is the body that needs to change its attitude. “The senate is in support of this cause; we did not dismiss the merits of or needs for the proposed center. We denounced, unanimously, the administration’s makeshift solution to the issue; the need for institutional support needs to be taken much more seriously than this,” Britt said. “I’m not sure that everyone gets that yet.”