After years of demands, anticipation and advocacy, the MSU Multicultural Center is finally open. The $38 million project completed construction in the beginning of the semester and serves as the university’s first standalone building meant to serve as an open space to every MSU student.
Marketing junior Navya Abraham said she was intrigued to see the center being completed after over a year of construction. The building may become Abraham's new study spot, she said, which she attributed to its calmness and aesthetics.
"Coming back on campus, it was really exciting to be able to see it all come together, and then walking (into) the building itself, everything looks so new, so fun, open and welcoming for students to come learn and study," Abraham said.
Speaking on the significance of the center, Abraham said MSU acknowledging the diversity within the student population is important to her.
"We are obviously a campus that’s very big, and we have all sorts of different people from different areas, and being able to address that, I think that’s super helpful for students, even who are international as well," Abraham said.
Computer science senior Chris Paul said he thinks the center emphasizes the study space area and that it was money well spent.
"This seems like a good unifying area for having people come and study," Paul said. "I think it’s a beautiful design, so kudos to everyone involved with it. From the outside and inside it looks great."
Abraham and Paul are joined by countless other students and student groups on campus who are celebrating the new center, in part due to the years it took to come to fruition.
The completion of the Multicultural Center comes after decades of student organizations advocating for MSU to create a space that is open and welcoming to all of its students. Advocacy for such space goes back as far as the 1960s, when Black MSU students protested and advocated for the university to increase ethnic and minority representation among students and faculty.
In the early 1990s, student organizations including the Black Students Alliance, Asian Pacific American Student Organization (APASO) and Culturas de las Razas Unidas (CRU) helped establish the Council of Racial and Ethnic Students (CORES).
With the inclusion of CORES and continued sit-ins and protests, MSU administrators worked with student organizations and activists to establish the first multicultural space in 1999, housed in the basement of the MSU Union.
Years later, the space was moved to the second floor of the Union in 2013, renamed MOSAIC: The Multicultural Unity Center, where it’s still in place. On Feb. 10, 2023, MSU’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved the construction of the standalone Multicultural Center, with the university breaking ground on construction on April 21, 2023.
International relations sophomore Elena Sweeney, vice-president of Culturas de las Razas Unidas, said she is "so excited" about the building, where she also works as a multicultural student staff member.
"It’s absolutely gorgeous and it’s even more impressive knowing the years and work and advocacy that has gone into planning this building and making it student-centered," Sweeney said.
For Sweeney, it’s been exciting to see the events that the Office of Multicultural Enrichment and Advocacy (OMEA) has held in the building in the short time it’s been open, along with CRU holding its first meeting in the space.
"It was really exciting to just see this space fill up and be such a hub for culture and community, and it’s been a long time coming at MSU but it’s really exciting that it’s already here," Sweeney said.
In the process of advocating for the center and for a designated space, Sweeney said, members of CRU made sure other students’ voices were heard and their needs were met.
"It’s a great thing that MSU has been collaborative in this process and listening to students and centering student voices," Sweeney said. "With everything going on, I think that is something MSU needs to continue to have these types of conversations, and see how they can support all students who are marginalized and minoritized."
Reflecting on the progress that has resulted in the completion of the center, Sweeney thanked those who came before her for their efforts in advocating for a standalone building.
"We’re all so grateful and so excited," Sweeney said. "Of course, I only got onto campus last year and construction was just getting started, so I really didn’t get to see or be here for all of the planning, but it’s pretty cool that I’m here now and CRU is able to do so much with this space."
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Angel Noaks, the Black Students’ Alliance internal president, said the student organization is grateful for the opening of the standalone building, noting the years of students collaborating with university officials.
"We definitely feel like it was a long time coming," said Noaks, a junior in marketing. "For many years, the fight was just more than for a physical space, but it was about creating a sense of culture on campus."
Though BSA is grateful that the center has come to fruition, Noaks said there is still more work to be done to make sure MSU ensures students a safe and diverse campus.
"There are concerns that have been raised from our board and different communities about the institution’s plan to keep (the center) alive with its original goal," Noaks said. "Even when it came to CORES groups getting spaces in the MCC, that itself was a whole challenge."
Noaks said she hopes past BSA and CORES members know their advocacy was not in vain, acknowledging last year's e-board whose work led to the present day.
"They laid the foundation, and it took some time to get here, but I would hope this is their vision and that this is everything they wanted," Noaks said. "Even though we’re still fighting for more, I would hope that they’re satisfied."
Asian Pacific American Student Organization President Michael Oriyavong called the center a "great starting point and a foundational step" toward students having a building that represents many on campus.
"This is something that we’ve been asking for a long time, for a free-standing building that represents so many diverse and marginalized and minoritized students," said Oriyavong, a senior in political science. "I believe the university still has a lot of things that we need to work on."
The importance of having a space where students can express themselves and their identities is particularly important now, Oriyavong said, as last week an MSU college abruptly cancelled a Lunar New Year event, citing anti-DEI executive orders.
"The main focal point for me is to make sure the APIDA/A students and all other minoritized groups have the ability to express their identity," Oriyavong said. "I want to remind everyone that we should not be afraid to express who we are and where we came from."
Oriyavong also gave thanks and appreciation to those who came before him for the work that led to the creation of the Multicultural Center.
"If it wasn’t for the demands from the '90s from student organizations all the way up to 2019 when a sit-in occurred in President (Samuel) Stanley’s office at the time for a building like this, we would not be able to get the building now with all of these events happened," Oriyavong said. "Our identities, our cultures, our legacies of those who came before us stem and are tied to a free-standing building here on campus. Across this campus, we should all be proud of who we are."
