On Feb. 14, around 20 members of several University of Oregon organizations, including UO Muslim Student Association, UO Arab Student Association, UO South Asian Cultural Alliance and others, hand-delivered a letter to UO President John Karl Scholz requesting for the administration to establish a cultural center for students of South Asian, Southwest Asian and North African ethnicity.
“The SSWANA Center would provide a vital space for University of Oregon students to promote community and intellectual growth,” the letter read. “This center aims to promote interfaith dialogue and cross-cultural solidarity while also enhancing the visibility of students from the SSWANA region on our campus.”
At 3:15, the members, carrying a large banner saying “Students Demand a South Asia, Southwest Asia and North Africa Cultural Center,” walked from the Multicultural Center in the Erb Memorial Union to Johnson Hall, the administration building.
Iman Zarlons, a member of the Muslim Student Association and Students for Justice in Palestine, read the letter out loud inside Johnson Hall to a secretary who accepted the delivery.
“I think the delivery is a great action for us to carry out because it puts pressure on admin and informs students of the progression of these events, which gives us more leverage in our goals,” Zarlons said. “This is something that can very easily be pushed under the rug or not taken as seriously as it should be when there is not a public vision on it.”
Co-President of the Muslim Student Association, Mohammed Shakibna, helped lead the delivery. He said the cultural center would help break down cultural barriers at UO.
“A lot of people from the SSWANA region are stereotyped negatively and this is a way that can help reverse those stereotypes and get people to understand the different cultural aspects of our community,” Shakibna said.
According to Shakibna, Portland State University and Oregon State University both have similar cultural centers for students of Asian and African regions, so he believes UO should “meet the moment” and follow their lead.
The Associated Students of the University of Oregon were amongst the multiple organizations that co-signed the letter, including:
- UO Muslim Student Association
- UO Arab Student Association
- UO South Asian Cultural Alliance
- UO Access Ability Student Union
- UO Black Student Union
- UO Native American Student Union
- UO International Student Association
- UO Mixed Student Union
- UO Korean Student Association
- UO Black Male Alliance
- UO Muxeres
- UO Asian Pacific American Student Union
- UO Coalition Against Environmental Racism
