Members of the UD community cut the ribbon for the dedication of the Center for Intercultural Engagement in Perkins Student Center. Pictured from left to right are Chelsea Cohen, a peer education and assessment intern for Student Diversity and Inclusion; Vice President for Student Life José-Luis Riera; Student Government Association President Julia Hatoum; UD First Lady Eleni Assanis; UD President Dennis Assanis; Fatimah Conley, Vice President of Institutional Equity and Chief Diversity Officer; UD Board of Trustees Chair Terri Kelly; William Repetto, former president of the UD Graduate Student Government; and Rachel Garcia, director of Student Diversity and Inclusion.

UD celebrates opening of Center for Intercultural Engagement

Article by Jessica Downey Photos by Evan Krape October 18, 2023

New addition to Perkins Student Center provides gathering space for students

Students, faculty and staff, as well as alumni and members of the Newark community, gathered on Friday, Oct. 6, to celebrate the opening of the University of Delaware’s Center for Intercultural Engagement (CIE) located in Perkins Student Center.

Established as part of the University’s five-year Advancing Racial Equity and Inclusion Plan, the CIE serves as a physical space for students to gather and connect to discuss current events and issues related to social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion.

“In the fall of 2017, the Multicultural Center Working Group, charged by President Assanis, was established to respond to our students’ request for designated space on campus to serve and uplift the growing community of Blue Hens whose identities are historically underrepresented and marginalized within higher education,” Division of Student Life Vice President José-Luis Riera said in his opening remarks. “Here we are in fall 2023, seeing that vision become a reality with the dedication of this center.”

Approved by the UD Board of Trustees, designed by Philadelphia architecture firm DIGSAU and built by Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, the CIE was deemed a presidential priority project. President Dennis Assanis thanked those groups that made the center’s creation possible, as well as parent and alumni donors for keeping the center on a timely track through the pandemic.

“At UD, diversity, equity and inclusion are among our core values,” Assanis said. “That’s because we want our community to reflect the full breadth of the human experience. We believe that when everyone has the opportunity to contribute their unique talents, ideas and perspectives, then we, as a community, are stronger and more resilient.”

Student Diversity and Inclusion (SDI) has already utilized the center this fall for several events, including its recurring dinner discussion series Engaging Matters: Hot Takes Over Hot Plates. The space includes an ablution station, all-gender restrooms, a food and supply pantry for students facing food insecurity, an interfaith meditation and prayer room and a Clothing Coop, which offers free professional attire and UD-branded gear for students in need.

“Most of the time, it’s a space that students can just come hang out, decompress, study and connect with staff if needed,” Student Diversity and Inclusion Director Rachel Garcia said. “The sky is the limit for what we can create in this space.”

The Center for Intercultural Engagement serves as a physical space for students to gather and connect to discuss current events and issues related to social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion.

The CIE also serves as a hub for student groups with office spaces for four undergraduate and three graduate registered student organizations: HOLA, We’re First, Asian and Pacific Islander Student Association, Lavender Programming Board, Hispanic and Latino Graduate Student Association, Queer and Trans Graduate Student Union and Black Graduate Student Association. Additionally, SDI’s Social Justice Peer Educators use the space every Tuesday evening for meetings, workshops and trainings.

Aliyah Nelson, assistant director of Student Diversity and Inclusion programming, said she hopes the dedication ceremony helped students outside of these groups discover the CIE and how it can be a supportive space for everyone.

“Many UD students may not be aware of the space, so we appreciate every opportunity to get the word out,” Nelson said. “It’s important to celebrate the CIE so that students can be more aware of the resources available to them and hopefully engage more with the space over time. I’d like to see more UD community members here to further their efforts to build a more intercultural community on campus.”

All students are welcome during operating hours, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to midnight, and weekends, 9 a.m. to midnight. The CIE welcome desk is open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Students can request to reserve the CIE for meetings and events through a Qualtrics form.

Garcia drew on her own personal experience as a former UD student when envisioning the potential of the CIE.

“During my time at UD, I lived in a Latinx/Hispanic Living Learning Community that made all the difference in my student experience,” she said. “I know firsthand that being with people who have similar but different experiences than you really matters. I’m the daughter of an immigrant blue-collar Latine man and a first-generation college graduate, so I recognize that those that came before us paved the way for what we create today. We are truly our ancestors’ wildest imaginations.”

Moving forward, Garcia said she hopes to see the CIE serving as a beacon to recruit more Blue Hens and continue to impact future generations.

“My vision for the next five to 10 years is that we’re serving more students and creating spaces of liberation and joy, and that prospective students are choosing UD because we are at the forefront of intercultural engagement work,” Garcia said. “One of my greatest inspirations, Angela Davis, once said, ‘We can’t simply be opposed. We have to have a vision for what we want — what kind of society we want.’ This is crucial at our colleges and universities. I hope that we can continue to build, dream and create in ways that impact future generations. Let’s build it together.”

For more information on the CIE, visit udel.edu/students/intercultural-center.