UA CELBRATES RE-OPENING OF MULTICULTURAL CENTER

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The University of Arkansas will celebrate the re-opening of the Multicultural Center in a dedication ceremony Wednesday, Jan. 23, that will include various speakers from the University community and special guests Ozell Sutton and Dr. Fred Hord.

     The ceremony will be open to the public, and it will begin at 2 p.m. at the Arkansas Union Suite 404.

     Sutton serves as the regional director-southeast region of Community Relations Service for the U. S. Department of Justice. He has held this position since 1972 and prior to 1972, he was state supervisor for Community Relations Service in Arkansas.

     From 1968 to 1970, Sutton was special assistant to late Arkansas Governor Winthrop Rockefeller. Other positions he has held include field representative for CRS throughout the south; director, Arkansas Council on Human Relations, when he directed three statewide voter registration campaigns in the early 60's, led the sit-ins in Little Rock in the early 60's, and led desegregation efforts; first African-American staff writer for the Arkansas Democrat newspaper.

     Sutton is also nationally recognized for his leadership standing and professional stature. Ebony magazine has cited him four times among the "100 Most Influential African-American Leaders."  He is a past national president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., past president of the National Assault on Illiteracy; past president, National Alumni Association of Philander Smith College; past co-chairperson of the Atlanta Black-Jewish Coalition; member of the Executive Board, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; member of the Board, Special Contribution Fund, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

     The NAACP awarded the "Medallion of Freedom" to him, and both the United Negro College Fund and the National Urban League have cited him. The State of Arkansas has recognized him as a "Distinguished son of Arkansas."

     From the 1957 desegregation crisis at Central High School in Little Rock to marches in Birmingham, to Bloody Sunday at the Pettus Bridge in Selma to the 1963 March on Washington, to the fatal shooting of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis in 1968 and all points in between, Sutton was there. He was there, too, when riots occurred in Miami and in South Central Los Angeles and during the Rodney King crisis.

     Hord is a member of the faculty at Knox College and also serves as founder, executive director and past president of the national organization the Association for Black Culture Centers. ABCC seeks to reclaim, critique and perpetuate the culture of people of African descent through networking, care taking and institutionalizing. It is a young and growing organization with benefits in membership such as networking, newsletter, national conference, a speakers' bureau, traveling art exhibits, and vitae bank. ABCC will co-publish the first book on centers, Black Culture Centers: Politics of Survival and Identity, with Third World Press in 2002. The University of Arkansas was the host campus of the Sixth Annual ABCC Conference in 1996.

     The recommendation for an African-American cultural center on the University of Arkansas campus was put forth in 1993. Unlike most centers, created as a response to concerns expressed by students or student unrest, the recommendation came from former UA Chancellor Dan Ferritor. Ferritor wanted to create a place for African-American students that would nourish an environment conducive to the students' retention, in addition to being a place for socialization. He formed a committee to develop a mission for and also to recommend a location for the center.

     The first location selected for the center was what is now called the Scarbrough House, the old two-story former fraternity house located just north of Futrall Hall at the intersection of Douglas Avenue and Lindell Avenue. Other sites considered include space on the first floor of the Arkansas Union in the northwest corner and space in the soon to be built parking deck.  After much deliberation with the selection of the Scarbrough House site, the committee decided on a multicultural center versus a black cultural center. When considering the size of the facility, it was felt that more groups could be served as a multicultural center instead of a black cultural center.

     Negotiations did not go well for the property. The University eventually leased the Pi Kappa Alpha House at 320 Arkansas Ave. for four years, July 1, 1995- June 30, 1999. The property was shared with another University department  (BASIS) for the four years.

     The center officially opened on February 27, 1996, with a special program recognizing and honoring Mrs. Daisy L. Gaston Bates. An exhibit, "Daisy Bates:  A woman of courage," was prepared from materials from the University Libraries' Special Collections Division by Dr. Ethel C. Simpson, head of archives and manuscripts. A special banquet was held that evening in Mrs. Bates' honor, featuring the Reverend Samuel Billy Kyles (Civil Rights Crusader), Tracey L. Steele (executive director of Arkansas' Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission), Chancellor Ferritor, and president of the University of Arkansas System, Dr. B. Alan Sugg. Mrs. Bates became the first recipient of the Black Students Association's "Living Legacy" award.

     The lease on the 320 Arkansas Ave. facility expired on June 30, 1999.  While making plans in the mid 1990s to renovate the Arkansas Union, plans were included to move the center to this present location.  Dr. Lyle Gohn, vice chancellor for Student Affairs at the time, wanted the center in the Arkansas Union to help bring traffic to the Arkansas Union and to avoid presenting the image of something separate for minority students on the "edge of campus," away from the mainstream.

     The new space for the center unofficially opened on Oct. 15, 2001. The mission and goals of the center reads, "The Multicultural Center exists to enhance the University of Arkansas' academic experience by preparing students for life in a pluralistic society. The staff seeks to provide a "home away from home" atmosphere for African American, Latino/a, Native American and Asian American students; to provide an environment that promotes cross-cultural interaction; and to collaborate with the University community in providing educational, cultural, social programs and resources to assist in the development and advancement of a diverse community."

     Resources within the Center include a small library and video library, a large screen television with satellite hook-up, video recorders, lounging areas, ethnic magazines, financial aid resources, a secured gallery area, four exhibits, resources on diversity education and staff offices.

     A Multicultural Center Advisory Committee, composed of individuals from the campus and community, recommend various educational, cultural, and social programs and activities to be offered through the center. This committee determines the rules and regulations by which the center is governed and also serves in an advisory capacity to the staff in all matters concerning the center.

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