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Fighting for the campus Multicultural Center

When browsing through the UC Berkeley website, the first word found under the "About UC Berkeley" link is another link entitled "Diversity." The university consistently uses diversity on this campus as a selling point for incoming students. Campus representatives go to high schools to give presentations about UC Berkeley and often talk about how this university stresses the inclusion of all students and values the different histories and experiences that they bring here. However, to many students, the campus has failed to fulfill its rhetoric. It has not given students a space that promotes multiculturalism. We need a space for representation of all marginalized peoples, a space that allows everyone to share their personal stories. The question remains, where is our multicultural center?

The UC Berkeley administration promised students a multicultural center that would provide resources to under-served students in 1999 following the end of the hunger strikes for Ethnic Studies. Heller Lounge was given to students as a temporary space for the multicultural center. According to the original demands, our multicultural center is supposed to provide resources like an auditorium, a lounge, meeting rooms, offices, and academic and social support. Despite the inadequacies of Heller Lounge as a multicultural center, the temporary contract with Heller Lounge is set to expire at the end of June. After nearly ten years, we are still fighting for a permanent multicultural center-- a fight that many would agree should not be this difficult.

As the struggle continues, the unity and resistance of the students also continues to grow strong. The third world Liberation Front (twLF), along with other supporting student organizations, has started up again to organize towards the vision of a truly inclusive community here. Many campus groups have worked together to come up with a series of events, awareness workshops, and rallies to fight for the space that belongs to the third world peoples and exemplifies the meaning of multiculturalism.

There were week-long teach-ins regarding the multicultural center during the week of February 25. These teach-ins were a space for students to learn more about the fight for a multicultural center. They created dialogue with students about what "multicultural" means and what this University should have and represent. In addition to the teach-ins, a coalition of organizations put on a week of events in the beginning of March. "(RE)claiming Our Space" was the week's theme and most of the events took place in Heller Lounge. The main purpose of the week was to empower all communities on this campus to realize and claim Heller Lounge as a space for multicultural programming and visibility of all people.

As the next step to pressure the University to prioritize multiculturalism and fulfill its promise, twLF organized a rally on March 6 on the steps of Sproul Hall to demand a permanent multicultural center. Wearing bright yellow and black colors, approximately a hundred people came to support the cause and protest. Many protesters were holding signs on the steps of Sproul Hall that said, "Power to the People" and "Back up your rhetoric." Students from different backgrounds and various organizations, even students who just walked by, came together and chanted in unity: "The students united, will never be defeated!"

Those with little understanding of the history of struggles in this campus community will think that the twLF rally was a "little rant" full of "profanity and threat," as a letter to The Daily Californian on March 18 would suggest. However, the rally actually represented an opportunity for those who felt silenced and disrespected to express their concerns. If students at the rally appear to be emotional, it is reasonable because it is frustrating to think that UC Berkeley, the top public university of this country, does not provide the space and adequate resources for our diverse student body.

In addition to showing unity of the community and reflecting common sentiments, organizers of twLF also collected petition cards to present to the Chancellor and other administration. The petition cards included the student's demands regarding the multicultural center. The first demand was funding for staff, programming and immediate renovations to the current Heller Lounge. The second demand was the completion of a permanent multicultural center. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was also proposed to list specific demands that called for a functional and adequately funded temporary center while the process of building a permanent center was also in check. The proposed agreement asked for at least $200,000 to renovate the temporary center. A negotiation team from the twLF had been meeting with the Chancellor and appointed officials to discuss the MOU.

After the rally, the bridges Coalition had an annual meeting with the Chancellor at Heller Lounge to discuss the issues that the students felt were important. During the meeting, organizers from twLF and other students brought up the multicultural center and the Chancellor did not appear to be open to listen to the students. Susan Deng, a member of REACH! the Asian Pacific Islander Recruitment and Retention Center, attended the meeting and felt that the Chancellor had disrespected the students. "Every time we brought up the issue about the multicultural center, he would try to divert the topic. I think a lot of students felt hurt because he didn't really seem like he wanted to be there. He said he was tempted to go to the women's basketball game while we were trying to ask him about the funding for our multicultural center," Deng said. Not only did the Chancellor refuse to talk about the details of the current situation, but he even refused to listen to the students and understand their needs.

Due to the fact that the Chancellor and administration still did not give any guarantees regarding the MOU, twLF quickly organized an emergency rally on March 13 in front of California Hall. They wanted to pressure the administration and also present an opportunity for those who were frustrated at the university's response to express their thoughts. Many of the organizers talked about how they were spending their time to organize or attend the rallies rather than studying for their midterms because they understood the importance of unity among the students.

Erin Pangilinan, one of the organizers of twLF, talked about her motivations for this on-going fight for diversity and multiculturalism. "I wanted to see something permanent, something tangible, to see the programming we do more validated ... I want to see a commemoration of the twLF and Ethnic Studies; something to tell people what twLF is. You go to the Free Speech Café in Moffitt and you learn about the Free Speech Movement; you see quotes and picture of Mario Savio, but what about our multicultural center?" Pangilinan explained. "Currently, Heller Lounge is dead. It's just a study room and a place for people to sleep. I would like to see ... a better use of the center."

On March 19, the ASUC Senate finally passed the Memorandum of Understanding, supporting twLF and the larger community's need for the center. This means that the university will fund $40,000 for the renovations of Heller Lounge and that the third phase of the multicultural center, development at Lower Sproul, will be looked into. Another $200,000 of funding will be provided by a grant from the Haas foundation.

As of now, the struggle for our multicultural center is not over yet. Students will continue to work together and make sure that future students who come here will have a space that recognizes the importance of their culture, histories, and struggles. More importantly, we will never allow the university to silence our voices and determine what our existence here means.