By Thomas Gibbons
Dominican University has recently announced the creation of the Center for Cultural Liberation under the division of Student Success and Engagement. In collaboration with The Village and El Centro, CCL will honor the rich history of those programs as well as supporting Black and LatinX students and expanding the focus to students from other historically marginalized backgrounds.
The mission of the CCL states: “The Center for Cultural Liberation exists to retain, support, and celebrate students from historically marginalized backgrounds. By fostering an inclusive campus climate that educates and challenges, the CCL upholds the longstanding social justice values of Dominican University.”
Jacky Neri Arias, Director of CCL, stresses this space for everyone in the Dominican community. “This is a space for not just marginalized folks but a space to learn,” said Neri Arias. “There is plenty of people who are not a part of marginalized communities, but they are out there marching and fighting for social justice.”
Neri Arias was hired in April for this position. She took notice of recent student actions from students calling on the University to be more supportive of the black and brown communities. These movements, such as letters to the university president or protests, led Dominican to realizing there is a need of a multicultural center.
“It became clear to me in the first month of working at DU that we needed to work with a much wider audience,” said Neri Arias. “The mission changed to not just be about El Centro but a multitude of groups.”
Through a lot of work over the summer, students were very vocal in calling for the University to serve all students. Campus groups such as Black Student Union, National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, Organization of Latin American Students, and Undocumented & Immigrant Allyance were the main voices in calling for something to be inclusive for all groups of people.
CCL will have multiple initiatives this school year. A quarterly newsletter with equity and inclusion data, celebrations, student highlights, dialogues, and opportunities to learn and engage in diversity efforts, and a year-long research project to explore our Hispanic Serving Identity and contribute to the continued creation of the CCL. With online learning in full force and less people on campus, CCL is still planning several events for students to virtually attend.
“The virtual conversations we are going to have are going to opportunities to share stories or just open dialogue,” said Neri Arias. “We want to hear what students want to talk about and build a virtual dialogue through their choices.”
If students want to suggest a topic to talk about through these virtual conversations, please reach out to Jada Coleman or Dianna Hernandez.
In addition to the newsletter, dialogue, and events CCL will be holding, the year-long research project will be one of the biggest things CCL will accomplish this year. In partnership with Dr. Gina Garcia, a leading scholar on Hispanic Serving Institutions, CCL will be learning about what it means to serve a Hispanic population and expand to every other races of students at Dominican.
Starting Sept. 15 to Oct. 31, Dominican is asking for your help to be a part of this project. Students from historically marginalized backgrounds are invited to submit stories in all forms of expression, including videos, artwork, and writing. Submissions pay $25 per student but also a chance to be a part of this great project.
Along with the submission of a video, students can attend a town hall meeting in the spring and participate in action-based projects. This involvement pays another $25 to students. If you participate in all three things, you are eligible for the grand prize from CCL.
“Through these video submissions and attending these events, we can report back to students and the University on our findings,” said Neri Arias. “This is an opportunity for them to learn what students are experiencing and how we can be better.”
From the data filled newsletter to the rich conversations that will happen this semester, CCL has also developed an extraordinary logo. Students Pablo Vargas and Carlos Benitez developed the logo and this logo adheres to the CCL being open to everyone. “This logo centers the letter C because this space is a liberation of culture,” said Neri Arias. “This space is for students to feel that they can be themselves and their culture is going to be celebrated.”
Neri Arias stresses that listening and talking with students was the main component in the formation of the CCL. “One of the biggest missions we hope to accomplish is that the CCL is another safe space to build community,” said Neri Arias. “Sometimes it is going to be uncomfortable and challenging but the idea is that students can be honest and open in this group.”
