By Katie Sittig-Boyd
Staff Writer

During the community meeting held on Feb. 18, Dean of Diversity and Inclusion Lisa Smith-McQueenie announced that the room previously known as the Student Activities Conference Room will now be established as the new Multicultural Office, the first physical precursor to the much-referenced future Multicultural Center.

Following several months of concentrated effort and years of discussion regarding the possibility of creating a multicultural student center on Simmons’ academic campus, this decision marks one of the crucial first steps that the administration needs to take in order to address students’ needs.

While there are offices for racial affinity organizations on the residence campus, such as those of the Black Student Organization (BSO) and the Asian Student Association (ASA), students have been vocal about the noted lack of racial and ethnic meeting spaces on the academic campus.

Residence campus is less accessible during the day for students who have classes, as well as for commuter students.

Student response varied from initial excitement to more of a jaded perspective.

“This office should not have taken a protest and student activism,” said first-year student activist Wallace. “It should have just existed without our demanding it.”