Main lounge and staris of Multicultural Center captured from the balcony on Jan. 31, 2025.
Since the 1960s, MSU students have been asking the university for more ethnic and minority representation. Ten years later, this turned to a push for a multicultural center — a goal that has persisted until today.
Friday afternoon, MSU celebrated the building's grand opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony decades in the making.
This $38 million, 34,000-square foot-building is a direct result of the years of advocacy and demands from groups of alumni, students, faculty and staff. And this ceremony was meant just for them.
Following the recitation of the university’s land acknowledgement, Ariel Clark, a member of the Odawa Anishinaabe people, began the event with a ceremonial blessing. That was followed by a wide variety of speakers thanking all those that made this day possible.
MSU Board Chair Kelly Tebay highlighted the student leaders who petitioned for more representation on campus. Their input and insight helped get the vision off the ground and transform an idea into a reality, she said.
"As we cut the ribbon today, let it symbolize a future where every Spartan feels at home, where our differences unite us in strength and purpose," Tebay said as she ended her speech.
MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz described those who made this building come to fruition as game-changers.
"This beautiful building is the outcome of Spartan advocacy over decades, and of the commitment of this university of forging a community that is welcome, safe and inclusive for all," Guskiewicz said. "So that our students do more than persist and survive while they are here, but they thrive."
Connor Le, the undergraduate student body president, said this moment was bittersweet for him.
"While this is a joyous moment, there’s still more work to be done today," Le said.
Like many of the speakers, he ended his speech saying, "go green." However this time, he asked the crowd not to respond with, "go white." Instead, he requested they say "go beyond white." The crowd did exactly that.
After the ceremony was an open house celebration that invited the rest of the community to tour the building.
What's inside
With the first Multicultural Center opening in 1999 in the MSU Union basement, this new building — located in the heart of campus — offers much more.
The center features multiple reservable spaces, including three conference rooms, a resource room, student collaboration spaces and more. It also includes additional amenities like a community living room, work rooms with a printer, a community kitchen with four microwaves, a fridge and a freezer. There is also a large multi-purpose room that can be split into two.
Unlike other buildings, it will also offer a group meditation and reflection room, along with two personal health rooms available on demand for people to cleanse themselves before private prayer, meditation or other personal needs — no reservations needed.
"I think being the first freestanding Multicultural Center in the history of the institution and the shift from being a center inside one space is something I want to acknowledge," said Samuel Saldivar, the director of the Office of Multicultural Enrichment and Advocacy. "I also think that in terms of visibility, there was an intentionality about trying to be central to the campus location."
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For Saldivar, he believes it’s important to have this space as it allows for "students to gather and work towards creating intersectional opportunities to connect with one another."
One of the drives for this space is to provide an area for students to make intentional connections with one another and to build a community that honors the intersectionality of the diverse campus, Saldivar said.
As of right now, the building is open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., and reservations can be made on the website.
