Coming in August 2017, as a part of the Lee and York residence hall remodel project, the Student Center for Equity and Empowerment (E&E) and the Office of Multicultural Affairs will move from the Art Building to a new space across from Goudy Commons. The location provides a larger area, a more centralized location and easier access for students.
During the 2016–17 academic year, ASWU President Liz Gill, Vice President for Campus Life Ed Whipple and Director of Multicultural Affairs Gordy Toyama initiated a conversation about including a new space for the E&E in the plans for the Lee and York residence halls. From there, an advisory group of students, faculty and staff was formed to provide ongoing guidance for the process and the space.
View diagrams and drawings of the project online.
The E&E was created in the spring of 2011 as a class project by four students — Delia Olmos-Garcia ‘14, Humberto Marquez-Mendez ‘14, Bridget Hinton ‘14 and Natividad Zavala ‘13. They saw the need for a welcoming and inclusive space where students of various identities could find resources and support networks, as well as build community.
The students took the initiative to find such a space for people of marginalized identities. Originally located in Matthews Hall, the E&E, along with the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Office of the Chaplains, moved to the Art Building in 2015.
The uniqueness of the E&E space is grounded in the empowerment of historically underrepresented students and their allies to discover and challenge themselves as active members of the academic community and individuals of lifelong learning.
The mission of the Office of Multicultural Affairs is to promote multiculturalism throughout the campus community by delivering a variety of educational programs and services advocating for social justice and diversity.