ASUC Senate OKs Multicultural Center Agreement

The opening of the multicultural center in Heller Lounge-a project five years in the making-will move forward after the ASUC Senate Wednesday night passed an agreement necessary for the center's opening.

After six hours of debate dragged into the wee hours of the morning, a Memorandum of Understanding detailing the roles of the ASUC and the university in the center's operation received enough votes to pass.

The agreement will be sent to Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, who needs to give approval before the center can open its doors.

Senators decided that half of the administrative board to oversee the programming and day-to-day operations of the multicultural center will be ASUC representatives.

"We are liable for that space," said Student Action Senator Manuel Buenrostro.

The body agreed that representatives for Birgeneau, Multicultural Student Development and two members from the Third World Liberation Front-the group that first lobbied for the center in a hunger strike five years ago-will sit on the board. Some senators, however, wanted the rest of the board to be ASUC representatives.

But some senators wanted more Liberation Front members, who could understand the purpose and history of the multicultural center, said CalSERVE Senator Dena Takruri.

"Based on how the senators have voted, amended and butchered the original TWLF (agreement), I am forced to question if they actually support a multicultural center," Takruri said.

The ASUC agreed to lease space for the multicultural center in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Student Union last year after then-Chancellor Robert Berdahl forgave part of their debt to the university.

Heller Lounge will serve as a temporary home for the center until the completion of the Lower Sproul Redevelopment Plan, which will include the creation of a permanent multicultural center.

The agreement also stipulates that Birgeneau must begin construction on the permanent multicultural center site on Lower Sproul by June 2007 and complete construction in two years. If he does not follow through with the plan, Birgeneau must match ASUC contributions to recruitment and retention centers.

As part of the agreement, Birgeneau must submit reports twice every semester on the progress of construction of a permanent multicultural center.

The center, which has already been fully refurbished and renovated, was originally planned to open at the beginning of the fall semester.

But confusion over how many votes the agreement needed to pass delayed resolution of the bill, leaving senators unclear about whether the multicultural center was moving forward.

Executive Vice President Christine Lee decided the agreement passed yesterday evening.

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