Although the renovations to West Union are still a work in progress, one detail is near certain—the Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Life and the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture will be moving out permanently.
Plans for the renovated West Union Building do not include space for private groups, Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta said.
“It’s pretty likely that West Union will emerge as a public space... fully used for public use,” Moneta said. “Ultimately we’ll have to seek new homes for the Mary Lou [Williams Center] and the LGBT center.”
The Board of Trustees will vote on plans for the West Union Building renovations at its meeting Friday, Moneta said, adding that the renovations will most likely begin Summer 2013. The timeline and future location of the centers’ move is not yet determined.
“There’s a lot of questions unanswered,” said senior Nana Asante, president of Black Student Alliance—a group that meets regularly in the Mary Lou Williams Center. “The uncertainty is most troubling.... A lot of actions have been taken that have not been explained to us.”
Moneta said he will be meeting with students frequently to discuss the future of the LGBT center and the Mary Lou Williams Center after the Board votes.
“We have not talked to students in any formal way,” he said. “We’ve had very modest, preliminary conversations.”
When Moneta came to Duke 10 years ago, the LGBT center was housed inside of the Flowers Building and the Mary Lou Williams Center was in the LGBT center’s current location.
“We have a track record that when there is a relocation, it gets better,” Moneta said. “My commitment is that wherever the centers end up, it will not be a step backwards.”
President of Blue Devils United Ari Bar-Mashiah, a senior, said he was informed of the LGBT center’s eventual move as an employee of the center—not as BDU president.
Sophomore Jacob Tobia, DSG director of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer policy and affairs, was notified about the center’s move in a meeting with Moneta Sept. 9.
“After the Board approves the West Union plan... that’s when the administration will reach out to the black and queer community with options as to where they will move,” Tobia said. “Only a few students have been included in this process up until now.”
BSA Executive Vice President Marcus Benning, a sophomore, said he has met with Steve Nowicki, dean and vice provost for undergraduate education, to discuss the proposed move for the Mary Lou Williams Center. Nowicki has encouraged students to voice their opinions about the location changes.
“Nowicki said that he charges [students affected by the location changes] to hold his feet to the fire concerning the administration gauging student input about where the Mary Lou will be,” Benning said. “Students feel as if since these are our student cultural centers, we should be the ones deciding where they should be. It should not be in the hands of a few administrators.”
Bar-Mashiah said he is hopeful that the LGBT Center will be moved to a location that is also on West Campus, adding that the center’s current location is great for any student who wants to drop in to talk or look for a place to study.
“We don’t want to lose the community we have because of the space,” Bar-Mashiah said. “We don’t want to feel as if we are tucked away for people who may need the center’s resources.”
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