Letter to the Editor

A Community Coalition of Students at Tufts recently petitioned to make the Asian American Center an accessible and welcoming center for students, faculty, staff, and guests. “As long as Start House serves the dual purpose of being a residential hall and a Center,” the petition states, “the Center will remain inaccessible, due to the locked front door, and cannot provide an open or welcoming space for community building.”

The Asian American Center was founded in 1983, after an incident targeting Asian American students at Start House. With the support of allies and the Asian American community, Tufts University recognized the need for a dedicated Center to serve the unique needs of the Asian American community on campus. Unfortunately, the Center created has been limited to a single room, an administrative office, and inside a residential facility. In 2017, we must reflect on the intentions which brought the space to life in 1983 and ask ourselves if its current form meets those needs.

As the Group of Five, we fully support the request to make the Asian American Center a more accessible and welcoming space by, as a first step, separating the residential unit from the administrative office. Each of the Group of Five centers at Tufts are designed to provide students with opportunities for professional and personal growth and development. Therefore, each center needs a dedicated space to serve the unique identity and experience of our students, a uniqueness which makes Tufts a diverse and inclusive learning environment for all.

 

Africana Center, Katrina Moore

Asian American Center, Linell Yugawa

Latino Center, Julián Cancino

LGBTQ Center, Hope Freeman

Women’s Center, K. Martinez