SJI Proposes Cultural Center
By Mallory Reed '10At this week's Social Justice Initiative Coffee Hour, members of the student-run and organized SJI unveiled their proposal for a Cultural Education Center at Hamilton. According to the SJI proposal, "If Hamilton wants to become a truly inclusive campus and empower students from traditionally marginalized groups, it must establish a cultural center." The SJI calls upon the college to build a center named after alumnus Bob Moses within the next 10 years to "demonstrate its commitment and respect for cultural and intellectual diversity." The Cultural Education Center would be in addition to a new Student Union already planned for construction.
SJI member Robyn Gibson '10 began the Coffee Hour with a group activity called a "privilege line." Students and faculty stood outside ELS holding hands in a straight line and were then asked to take either a step forward or backwards in response to statements and questions. Gibson gave directions such as "take a step forward if your parents went to college," "take a step backward if your professor has ever called you out in class to represent your race," and "take a step forward if the general population of Clinton looks like you." At the end of the exercise, participants were spread out across the ELS circle. Gibson then held up a credit card and said whoever got to it first would get the money.
"The privilege line shows there are a variety of differences on campus," said Gibson. Corinne Bancroft '10 added, "At Hamilton it often looks like we are standing in a straight line when in reality we are not. We need to make the line even out." The credit card at the end of the activity symbolized the distance that underprivileged groups have to travel to compete with people who have privilege. One of the students who was far behind the original line at the end of the activity said, "I didn't even try to run for the card because I knew it was no use."
The Cultural Education Center that the SJI proposes will not only celebrate the differences of students at Hamilton illustrated by the privilege line, but it will provide a "safe space" for marginalized students. The proposal states, "Although all students are ostensibly welcome all over campus, students of color and other underrepresented groups do not feel welcome." The center would provide a space for numerous minority student organizations such as the Womyn's Center, the Rainbow Alliance, La Vanguardia, the Brothers Organization, and the SJI to express themselves in a safe environment. However, the SJI proposal emphasizes that "this center will be open to all students."
The SJI proposes that the Cultural Education Center be in a central location at Hamilton for accessibility and "to demonstrate the centrality of diversity at Hamilton College." On the first floor of the building, the proposal calls for a comfortable foyer where students can intermingle and study, a library to keep historical documents and books relating to multiculturalism, a computer room, a lecture and banquet hall, and a kitchen. On the second floor the SJI would like a conference room, ten smaller rooms for each of the organizations, an open common room with couches, tables, a T.V. and a pool table, and an Office for the Director of Multicultural Affairs. The Director of Multicultural Affairs is a new position that the SJI calls on the college to establish to work directly with cultural issues at Hamilton.
SJI member Stephanie Tafur '10 said that the proposal was sent to the Board of Trustees, Dean Thompson, and the Office of the President. She opened the meeting up to questions and comments from the community. Students and staff voiced their opinions on the construction of the Cultural Education Center, discussed the wording of the proposal and considered reactions from the larger community. To get involved in the conversation about the Cultural Center and issues of diversity on campus, the SJI meets every Thursday at 9 p.m. in KJ 223b and hosts Coffee Hours every other Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. in ELS.