Cultural groups gain some elbow room

Several cultural groups have gotten some new space in the ARCH building, but some say they'll take more if they can get it.

"We're on a roll right now, so we want to keep that momentum going," Asian Pacific Student Coalition Chairwoman and College senior Mana Nakagawa said.

Two groups housed in the ARCH on Locust Walk received three new offices this summer in what members are calling a "welcome improvement."

The offices were vacated when the Performing Arts Council moved from the ARCH to a newly constructed space in Stouffer Commons.

But many group members say these changes should only be the first step in a bigger transformation process for the ARCH.

La Casa Latina, Makuu - the black cultural center - and the Pan-Asian American Community House use the ARCH -at 36th and Locust - as their headquarters. One of the vacant offices will be allotted to La Casa Latina, while the other two will go to Makuu. They will be used as both formal and informal meeting spaces.

At a school where the Asian population alone makes up 23 percent of the student body, Nakagawa said, larger spaces for minority groups would be more appropriate and would attract more student participation.

Eventually, leaders hope to see renovations to the ARCH's basement. With multimedia equipment, practice space and lounges, the building can become a "student union for diversity," said Nakagawa.

Administrators are also keen to keep the cultural groups located in the ARCH building due to its central location on campus, according to Vice Provost for University Life Val Swain-Cade McCoullum.

Space for minority groups is an issue of concern not just at Penn but also at other elite campuses.

At Northwestern University, for example, multicultural groups have two houses to call their own, but leaders still express similar concerns that cultural groups lack office space.

Buildings can be used for specific activities and programming, but they can also provide room for just hanging out, said Ted Vanadilok, director of Asian American Student Affairs at Northwestern.

At Stanford University, three of six resource centers are currently being housed in trailers as students and staff await the completion of a $24 million renovation on what will become the university's new student union. The renovations will be paid for by a private donor, said Shelley Tadaki, assistant director of Stanford's Asian American Activities Center.

But at Penn, no major private donor has recently stepped up.

Nakagawa said that finding funding for cultural centers has been a problem, but that Provost Ron Daniels is committed to working with student groups.

Facilities Services also worked over the summer to repair the ARCH's leaky roof and outdated air-conditioning system. These renovations were called for in an emergency presentation by student groups to the University Board of Trustees last semester.

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