- Students at Michigan State have been pushing for the construction of a free-standing Multicultural Center at MSU for decades.
- Friday, the university officially cut the ribbon on the new space.
- Video shows the new space, as well as thoughts from those involved in the project.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Years in the making, MSU's Multicultural Center has officially been unveiled. I'm your MSU Neighborhood Reporter Colin Jankowski. I had the chance to tour the new space. Let's take a look inside.
"This building is a space where students from historically oppressed and invisibilized spaces can have an area for themselves as well," MSU Multicultural Center Director Samuel Saldivar said.
But it hasn't been an easy road to get here. Murray Edwards knows firsthand.
"I've been involved since about 1989," Edwards said.
Back then, he helped students who occupied the first floor of the Hannah Administration Building for a "study-in".
"One of the demands those students had placed on the university was the creation of a free-standing multicultural center," he said.
Fast forward three-and-a-half decades. Murray and the students he's supported over the years can now see their vision has become a reality.
"To have an opportunity to be in a beautiful space like this and have experienced the students over the years that have worked to try to make this happen, and then now see this come to fruition, this is an outstanding accomplishment," Edwards said.
The 32,000-square-foot facility is located just south of the Red Cedar River along Shaw Lane and provides the Spartan community with space for multicultural programs and events.
University President Kevin Guskiewicz says the center symbolizes the University's drive to foster a welcoming campus community that celebrates all cultures.
"It says a lot that we have placed this facility in the very heart of our campus on a prominent, scenic riverfront site to make it available to all of our community," he said. "As Chairperson Tebay said, this will be a place where all Spartans can gather, learn, and grow."
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