Arizona State University opened its new downtown Multicultural Community of Excellence Center earlier this semester and now has one open on all five Arizona State University campuses.
The center is designed to give a safe space to ASU students of all different backgrounds and allow minority students to spread their culture across the campus.
“I think it’s nice to have a space where people understand what you have been through implicitly, where you don’t have to explain to them what it was like growing up in another country or in this type of family,” said Undergraduate Student Government Downtown Student Body President Renuka Vemuri.
Despite the core values of the center having good intentions, the Tempe campus center has been the site of major controversy.
The controversy came from a confrontation between two groups of students after one student had a pro-police and anti-Biden sticker displayed on his laptop.
According to the State Press, two members of the Multicultural Solidarity Club took issue with the political stickers and believed it was going against the values of the multicultural space.
An argument then took place for around forty minutes before it was defused by ASU’s situational response team.
The confrontation was posted on TikTok and went on to be viewed millions of times. TikTok has since removed the video but has not been able to stop it from being reposted seen by a nationwide audience.
Despite the controversy, the downtown multicultural center has stayed active and present in the community. Many students on the downtown campus see this center as progress towards social justice.
A group of students had been pushing for this center since 2016 and the space allows students of any race, ethnicity, or background to have a safe and productive learning environment.
“With the events of last year with George Floyd’s murder and everything that came out of that, it was something really gained traction,” said Vemuri.
Vemuri was a major supporter of the project and makes sure the project is still being updated.
“Having that be a place where, not where all the students of color and any minority students go but that being a place where their culture can spread to the rest of the campus is what’s important,” said Vemuri.
Although the student government has major input on how the downtown campus is improved, many students are unaware of the resources provided.
“I didn’t know there was a multicultural center on the downtown campus,” said Hayden Ciley, a sophomore who lives in student housing downtown.
Ciley was aware of the controversy on the Tempe campus but had no idea that all five ASU campuses had a multicultural center.
“I think there is value in a Multicultural center. I’m guilty of not knowing much about other cultures so something like this can promote an environment for learning about one another and educating folks about customs that don’t pertain to them,” Ciley said.
Vemuri says it is a common problem that the student government must deal with and are trying to use social media, in-person tabling and print advertising to reach students on the downtown campus.
“I know there are definitely times where it feels like the university doesn’t care about you but then there’s times where the can actually help you a lot, so it comes down to how can we bridge that gap,” said Vemuri, as ASU looks to improve social justice measures and help promote equality across all campuses.
Contact the reporter at svolante@asu.edu
