Though many of AAS senators have expressed that the student government generally supports the idea of a Multicultural Center, there are several concerns about changing locations that the ad hoc committee will have to address, such as the inconvenience of moving to a smaller office.
AAS currently uses its office for Budgetary Committee (BC) meetings and as a space for other senate committees to gather. The office houses confidential documentation pertaining to the student government and is used by staffers to issue checks from BC allocations. Located between the current AAS office and the Jose Martí Room in the basement of the Campus Center, the space that the AAS has been asked by student members of the Multicultural Center Committee to consider switching to is significantly smaller.
The current AAS office is one of the few spaces available on campus for the Multicultural Center, along with a slightly larger room in the Gerald Penny Center (Octogon). The primary advantage of the smaller AAS office is its central location.
“The Campus Center is prime real estate,” explained Director of the Campus Center and Associate Dean of Students Samuel Haynes, who has been working with AAS senators to brainstorm alternative spaces. He has assured the AAS that if it decides to switch offices with the Multicultural Center, the Campus Center will guarantee it conference room reservations to hold its meetings.
The senate remains divided on the issue. While some senators believe that even if it relinquished its larger office the AAS could continue to function smoothly and learn to make use of other resources, while others wonder why the Multicultural Center Committee has targeted the AAS office. “The AAS office is used. It is not more available than any other office in the Campus Center,” asserted senator Charles Tanenbaum ’09.
In addition to the practical concerns of switching offices and adjusting to a smaller space, the ad hoc committee will consider other factors.
“There are also symbolic issues,” explained AAS President Ayyappan Venkatraman ’09 of how some senators feel the AAS is yet again being pushed around by the administration. Some senators still harbor resentment for being displaced from their old office on the first floor (built specifically for the student government) in order to make way for the new Center for Community Engagement Office. “We were notified after the decision [to switch offices] had already been made,” Venkatraman recalled. “There was no dialogue.”
“We were put down in the basement and I think some senators took that personally,” said senator Nick Pastan ’09. “But it would be an injustice if the Multicultural Center had to pay for that,” he added.
Multicultural Center Committee member Merle J. Smith ’09 has emphasized that the committee is not making any demands and is not acting through the administration. “These are students requesting this from other students to make a better community,” he said. Smith further pointed out another side to the symbolism behind the AAS decision. “What would it mean for the student government to yield its own space for a Multicultural Center that will benefit the student body, its constituents, as a whole?”
Still, some AAS members also expressed concern that the Multicultural Center deserved more than the space it requested. Many senators believe the Multicultural Center Committee should apply greater pressure on the administration to find more adequate accommodations instead of trying to settle for the AAS office.
“At this point, there is no other alternative space,” said Smith after explaining that the committee had already approached the administration. “The Multicultural Center is happening with or without the change of location. The question is whether or not the student government is willing to help,” he said.
The AAS will make its final on Monday after the ad hoc committee presents its recommendation. Either in the Campus Center or in the Octagon, the Multicultural Center is expected to open its doors this April.