The Center for Community and Cultural Engagement and the Center for Student Access and Resources celebrated their grand opening on Wednesday with an event in their office spaces at the A. Ray Olpin Student Union building. Both new centers are housed on the Union’s fourth floor.
“Our center is focused on connecting students to community and also promoting cultural education,” Hailee Roberts, an events coordinator for the CCE, said. “So this is a opening [sic] to help connect, and also a new beginning.”
The creation of these two new centers follows H.B. 261, an anti-DEI bill that forbids higher education institutions “from taking certain actions and engaging in discriminatory practices.” The University of Utah closed the Women’s Resource Center, the LGBT Resource Center and the Black Cultural Center in July because of the bill.
H.B. 261 also prohibits higher education institutions from using the terms “diversity, equity and inclusion” in their mission efforts. The bill requires that the U’s resources be clearly available for all students, regardless of their identity.
“It seems like there was a perception that these [old resource centers] maybe weren’t for everybody,” Lori McDonald, vice president of Student Affairs, told The Daily Utah Chronicle in June. “So, we need to be very clear that these resources are available for all students.”
Students and staff attending the grand opening were greeted with introductory material for both centers and a scavenger hunt for the chance to win a prize. Further into the event’s main space, tables and crafts were set up for attendees.
“We have an origami sunflower making activity over there,” Roberts said. “So, we’re making a garland for our center. Just like as a community, we’re making them together so we can also put it together.”
The event’s attendees expressed admiration for the centers’ staff members and work during the centers’ transitional phase.
“I’m very, very proud of the staff that has been able to make this transition,” Kate Lunnen, an admissions counselor at the U, said. “I’m just very impressed with their poise and their efforts to continue to support students through this transition.”
Xochi Stensaas, a fifth-year gender studies major, expressed disappointment with the closing of previous resource centers but was optimistic about the future of the CCE and CSAR.
“I mean, I was really sad to find out that the resource centers were closing because of H.B. 261,” Stensaas said. “Hopefully, there will be little groups within these kind of big conglomerations of [the] resource centers because I think that’s a big part of it … having a specific place for your specific needs.”
