The Multicultural Center is a place on campus, physically and virtually, that provides a space for all identities. It focuses on the beauty of all of our stories and the validity of the right of every identity to find an equal home and to have equal rights afforded to them. The Multicultural Center represents our Lasallian tradition as well as the purest intention of American values.
The sad truth is that our nation has a history of not living up to those lofty ideals. Racism and bias has permeated our society since its founding. The current protests surrounding the murder of George Floyd is the latest in a long struggle for equal rights for formerly enslaved people and their families. This is not an easy or simple issue to overcome. The effects of racial bias and discrimination is deep seeded and embedded in the very founding of this country. They manifest in different ways and resistance to them does not always look conventional.
The Multicultural Center stands with people who have been oppressed by systemic racism and their struggle to dismantle those systems. Our goal is to provide resources and programs that will help our students digest and process their feelings and opinions about what is happening in our country. Our students have many different ways of understanding the world and it is the belief that the Multicultural Center should be a place where we can talk about those differences to find a way towards equality and equity. We also recognize that our students will also return to families and neighborhoods that do not resemble the community that we have built at Manhattan College. Our hope is to provide them with tools to create civil discourse when they encounter mindsets that do not line up with Lasallian or American values.
We are here for our fellow Jaspers and we vow to create a beautiful corner of the world right here on campus. Hopefully, it spreads and connects to others doing the same.
Indivisa Manent.
Follow us at @MCMCenter for information on upcoming events