A Multicultual Center: Listen Carefully

Amulticultural students center at Harvard is not a new idea. It has been on the minds of student activists for the last thirty years or so. Nor is it exactly an idea without models. Brown and Stanford are among the hundreds of universities that support similar institutions. At Harvard those who argue passionately in favor of such a center have always been drowned out by those who say it is unfeasible in practice and divisive in theory.

Last week, the Coalition for Diversity seemed poised to take up the issue again. This time, their proposal should be considered.

A multicultural center (or a minority students' center or a Third World center, depending on the politically correct phrase of the week) would address several of the current and future needs of many minority student groups, as well as of the undergraduate population in general. Such a center would ideally have room for office space, where Arab, Asian, Black, Latino, Native American and other student groups could share resources. Equipment that might be financially impossible for a single group (say, a copy or tax machine) would be feasible when split several ways. Furthermore, having these offices in a center used by students of all back-grounds would make them more accessible; most are now stuck in a warren of bombshelters underneath Memorial Hall.

A multicultural center would also ideally have space to hold lectures, seminars and discussion groups as well as more socially-oriented parties, dances and study breaks. A library that focused on issues of ethnicity could be part of a drop-in resource room similar to that in the Lyman Common Room. One room could be set aside as a conference room, for use by groups outside as well as inside the center.

The most important function of a multicultural student center, though, would be the one that is fundamental to any student center: providing a space for just hanging out. Harvard has classrooms for classes, houses for housing, exercise rooms for exercising but almost no lounges for lounging. And while some houses offer superb facilities for hanging out (North and Quincy come to mind) don't we see too much of our housemates as it is?

This gap in student services may be filled the geographically challenged student center Proposed for Memorial Hall. (Maybe.) But multicultural center also addresses the idea it sometimes people just like hanging out with others of similar identities.

This is a dangerous concept to discuss without being accused of separatism at best and racism at worst. Identities are tricky things. Some define themselves by their contractions, their favorite sports, their religions or their political ideologies. Others drift culturally to those from the same geographical region. It is the very diversity of Harvard that forces us to specify which parts of our background are important to us. I am a Jewish public-school feminist from Seattle who writes for the Crimson. Most of my friends in at least one (if not more than one) of same categories. It is not racism to suggest that, while a diverse campus is a wonderful real, most of us pick our friends based on common interests. If that happens to be ethnicity rather than a love of golf, then so be it.

What does have racist overtones is the suggestion that ethnic minorities grouping together is a bad thing in a way that, say, Feppies gathering in the Hasty Pudding is it. I disagree with Zaheer R. Ali '94 on many sings but I agree with his comments last week in the Crimson: "I do think in general in society there is a fear anytime Black people or so-called minority people or people of color are gathering together."

A multicultural center does strike many as a divisive, separatist move. The 1982 Gomes Report rejected the proposal for a Third World Center and suggested that it would polarize the campus. The solution proposed was the Harvard Foundation--and we all know how wonderfully non-polarizing and non-divisive it has been.

This charge of separatism ignores the fact that many (obviously, not all) minority students feel separated from the general Harvard community to begin with. "Mother Harvard doesn't coddle her young" and "Everyone finds a niche" are two tired phrases that, like most cliches, have a lot of truth in them. Particularly for those students who come from strong ethnic communities to begin with, Harvard's "salad bowl" of diversity (a few tomatoes, mostly a lot of lettuce) can make people cling to their identities. "Our whole lives we're with other students...As minority students, we need support for each other," said Sara K. LaRoche '95, co-chair of Native Americans at Harvard.

Furthermore, few complain that the Hillel Center prevents Jews from mingling with Gentiles or that the Lyman Common Room excludes males. And the reason is that far from promoting separatism, both organizations (and others similar) are resources for the entire University, not just their specific constituencies of Harvard students. A minority student center would not only have the potential to specifically serve the roughly one-third of undergraduates who identify themselves with a minority group, but also every Harvard student interested in issues of ethnicity or just in coming to a dance.

As Omar M. Maabreh '94, chair of the Harvard Islamic Society, said in the same Crimson article last week:

"It doesn't mean that it will split people in general up...I think already people are meeting and getting together around common interests and backgrounds. I think that complements the houses which create more of a mix."

This is a particularly felicitous time to be discussing a multicultural center. One year from now, Hillel will move into the new Rosovsky Hall across from Quincy House and the perfect building for a multicultural center will be available. That is, it will be available if Harvard decides to break with tradition and make undergraduate needs a priority.

The building at 74 Mt. Auburn is currently configured so that it has five large offices (some of which could be shared), two large rooms suitable for lounging and for parties, a small dining room and kitchen, a library and a chapel that could make an excellent conference room. Very little major remodeling would be needed to turn it into a multicultural center, certainly far less than if Harvard Real Estate got its greedy little paws on it and turned it into more University office space or another damn hotel.

One change I would propose is that the kitchen and dining room be turned into a sort of basement cafeteria, perhaps an adjunct of the Greenhouse Cafe in the Science Center. Not only would a well-located cafe for students turn a tidy profit, it would also draw students who might not otherwise feel comfortable going into a "minority students" center.

None of this will happen without student activism. That means not just pressuring the administration but also some creative thinking about how such a center would be funded, administered and operated. Rosovsky Hall came into being through the continued efforts of enthusiastic students and alumni. There are certainly interested alumni and other donors out there. Students interested in creating a multicultural center should not wait for Harvard to find them; they should get on the phone now.

Lori E. Smith '93-94 appears in this space on alternate Mondays.