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Ty Garfield Editor-in-Chief The Multicultural and Diversity Education Center (MCDEC) finds its genesis in 1995. Stemming from an initiative from the Student Body Association, the goal was to develop a central place for students to gather. The vision is a hub, for students to interface equally without regard to ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. SCC allotted the space in the PUB building as well as initial staffing, but furnishings were left to the devices of others. The majority of the tables, chairs and yes, even that comfy couch were either donated or salvaged.
Comfy couch aside, Terrell-Powell assures the primary focus of the MCDEC is academics. "I keep on top of these people," Terrell-Powell jokes, "Some mornings I walk in and look around and say 'Hello, it's 9:30. Don't you have class right now?'" "Recently, the biggest attraction has been the computers," Pineiro-Hall says. "Students have the opportunity to do research and bounce ideas off of other students." Other programs the MCDEC offers are the MLK Day observance, Hispanic Heritage Month and Multicultural Week, which is the flagship endeavor of the Center. Multicultural Week entails series of lectures and symposiums over many multicultural topics. The MCDEC also offers advisor drop-in sessions, access to counselors and a venue for clubs to meet. "One that really touched me was the Muslim Student Association," remarks Pineiro-Hall. "The club formed after 9/11 and this was a place Islamic students could feel safe." "The largest difficulty (the MCDEC) faces is getting the information out" Terrell-Powell said. "We're included in the new student orientation, we've gone to classes and discussed the center. We need to raise awareness of this facility and the availability of its services." Another challenge facing the MCDEC is the working student dogma. Students arrive on campus with such focus on their schoolwork, overlooking campus life and service becomes easy. Add a part-time or full-time job or a family to that and the focus narrows significantly. "When I was taking night classes, " recalls Terrell-Powell, "I'd park go to class and if I had time, get a snack and rush home. It's hard." The recent flurry of publicity concerning the MCDEC has caused Pineiro-Hall and Terrell-Powell to reflect and review on their outreach. "At first, we were like, 'whoa' where did that come from?" says Pineiro-Hall. "But when we began to see students rally around the center and show their support we realized the student who wrote that opinion (see Ebbtide Oct. 4th edition) may not have taken the time to come in and find out what we're all about." "From the groups who were coming in the beginning, we've seen expanded diversity." Pineiro-Hall said. "We see many more international students, just a bigger mix of students." "The waters of the media society tend to exclude Euro-Americans from 'diversity' and isolate them under the label 'white'," Terrell-Powell said. "When actually 'diversity' is inclusive of all demographics." "How do we figure out a way to reach out to all students?" Terrell-Powell asks. "We're offering a pathway for students to view one another as a holistic people. We can arm students with the information, they need to make the choice for themselves whether to come or not." © 2002 Shoreline Community College™ |
