Hastings College will officially open its new Diversity Center with an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday, Feb. 28 from 12:00-2:00 p.m. in room 07 of Daughtery Center (716 N. Turner Avenue). The Diversity Center will serve as a hub for student groups that currently do not currently have a central location to meet.
“We hope it will provide a visible, safe space for any group, but certainly those who serve underrepresented populations and promote diversity,” said Dan Peters, vice president of Student Life. “Promoting diversity at Hastings College helps to broaden perspectives, and it leads to engaging conversation, which in turn has a positive influence within society because it establishes a healthier culture and worldview.”
The ribbon cutting is scheduled to take place at 12:15 p.m.
The ceremony will feature messages by Hastings College Chaplain Damen Heitmann and student representatives from several of the groups that will actively use the Diversity Center.
The Diversity Center was previously a conference room that went unused, but students asked to adopt the space. After receiving approval from the College to move forward, and funding from the Office of Student Life for furniture, students worked together to design a space to fit their needs.
“I see the Diversity Center as a welcoming, versatile space ready to meet the needs of students who need it, whether that be for brainstorming, hanging out, organizing or meeting. I hope it will be another fun and positive spot for the Hastings College campus,” said Emma Atuire, co-president of Radical Notion and a junior from Denver, Colorado, double majoring in philosophy and sociology.
Much like the Peer Education Room in the Charles L. Stone Health Center that is used by the Peer Umbrella Network (PUN) groups at Hastings College, the Diversity Center will be a shared space for meetings, resources and collaboration between groups. The space is open to all student groups, and currently serves the Black Student Alliance; the Multicultural Student Union; Radical Notion, a feminist organization; the Gay/Straight Alliance; the Sociology Club; and the Hastings College Diversity Team.
Hastings College is a private, four-year institution located in Hastings, Nebraska, that focuses on student academic and extracurricular achievement. With 64 majors and 15 pre-professional programs, Hastings College has been named among “Great Schools, Great Prices” by U.S. News & World Report and a “Best in the Midwest” by The Princeton Review. For more, go to hastings.edu.
