Too much symbolism

In recent years, multicultural groups have requested that the University give them more space. This past fall, President Nan Keohane asked that a committee begin studying these issues. Last week, the Cultural Space Committee released its report.

Many campus cultural groups equate space with a symbolic form of respect from the University. The committee's report addresses social space with this perception. However, symbolism in this case is hollow. Correcting societal ills will not come from one report on space allocation. No one has as much space as they want, and no arrangement can satisfy every group. Focusing on one set of groups and giving them priority merely creates problems elsewhere.

One recommendation from the committee's report is to give the Mary Lou Williams Center priority in scheduling events in the Great Hall. The center may have grand plans for using the area, but they are not the only body that programs events; other groups have also taken advantage of the large open resource that is the Great Hall. Giving preference creates new inequities for those groups, which could use the space to program but would now lose some influence in the process.

At the same time, the proposal to move the center to occupy a significant portion of the West Union Building is questionable. Adding more space to the center may be beneficial as may moving it. However, giving it 20,000 square feet of space in the highly visible West Union Building may be too much.

Making more prime campus space available is one of the key reasons behind the Bryan Center renovations, and the report takes note in proposing the creation of a multicultural center. Such an area would offer multicultural groups much-needed office space--thus freeing the space they previously occupied for others to expand.

At the same time, creating commons rooms in this multicultural area can be a positive development as well--provided that the space is treated as the commons room in any living group is. Multicultural groups would have an automatic place to schedule small-scale events, and non-multicultural groups would still be able to use the space--the same way nonresidents can use living group commons rooms.

Area for religious prayer as part of the overall Bryan Center renovations also could help equity for everyone on campus. Religion is a key influence in many students' lives, and providing a space that can accommodate different faiths--but still be open to nonreligious uses--is a beneficial step from the committee's report for the University to take.

Multicultural groups have legitimate concerns when they say that their members are unwelcome at the institution they attend. However, creating new inequities will not solve this problem. Cultural issues run deeper than space, and this one committee could not have solved every problem, regardless of the solutions it could have proposed. Continuing dialogue and discussion on issues broader than that of space alone remains the constructive way to address these issues.