‘Berg To Establish Multicultural Center
Muhlenberg College President Randy Helm recently approved plans to establish a Multicultural Center at the College.Thursday, March 23, 2006 01:59 PM
A task force comprised of students, faculty and staff submitted a proposal for a center to Helm earlier this year.
“We wanted to send the campus community a clear, powerful message about Muhlenberg’s commitment to diversity and multicultural life,” said Helm. “The task force proposed a superb plan for a center that will provide both social and co-curricular activities for our community, and we hope it will also serve as an engine for curricular development related to diversity issues.”
The Multicultural Center will be modeled after the highly successful Hillel House at 2238 Chew Street. At present, several sites adjacent to campus are under consideration. A decision is expected to be made by April 4. The Center will offer student programming space as well as provide reading resource space.
“The establishment of the Multicultural Center is an important step that Muhlenberg is taking to diversify and enrich the living and working experiences for all members of the Muhlenberg community,” said Dr. Janine Chi, assistant professor of sociology and a member of the Committee that developed the proposal. “The campus community, as a whole, shares the responsibility for ensuring that the Center thrives and fulfills its potential contributions to the College and the greater Lehigh Valley area.”
“As a whole, multicultural students are excited about the new Center,” said Jessica Rodriguez ’06. “We’re looking forward to having a place where we can congregate to share our difference and unite with the entire College community.”
Cindy Amaya ‘01, senior assistant director of admission and coordinator of multicultural recruitment, said, “ We are all very excited at the prospect of a Multicultural Center on campus. The committee worked very hard to put together a proposal that would encompass different aspects of the Muhlenberg multicultural community, as well as embrace the entire community. From an admissions perspective, it would certainly help to show prospective students Muhlenberg’s commitment to multicultural life. And as an alumna, I’m very happy to know that our students will take advantage of all the Center has to offer.”
