The University of Arizona administration officially announced a plan on May 27 to consolidate the seven cultural centers on campus into a single multicultural hub, which led to the termination of directors from each of the existing centers.
Dr. Jenna Hatcher, who will serve as the Vice Provost and Special Advisor to Provost Patricia Prelock, announced the consolidation through a campus message to faculty and students. “This process will reflect the university’s strategic imperatives and our ongoing commitment to student retention, progression, graduation and career success across all identities,” Hatcher wrote in her letter.
Mitch Zak, a spokesperson for the UA, shared a press release on this decision. It reads that the new Student and Culture Engagement Hub was “designed to strengthen support for student engagement and community collaboration across campus.” The unit will be led by two appointed directors from the original cultural centers and overseen by an executive director who reports to Dr. Hatcher.
“This new framework is rooted in a collaborative approach that reflects the university’s values and demonstrates our unwavering commitment to fostering belonging, inclusion and success for every Wildcat,” Prelock said in the press release.
The six directors of Asian Pacific American Student Affairs, African American Student Affairs, Guerrero Student Affairs, LGBTQ Student Affairs, the Women and Gender Resource Center and the Disability Cultural Center were all notified that their positions would cease to exist after the consolidation information leaked to the press. They were all given a notice and were told that they could compete for two administrative director positions for the new multicultural hub.
Kim Dominguez, the now former director of the Gender and Women’s Resource Center, shared a video on Instagram on June 5 announcing that she had been laid off. Dominguez informed her students that her last official day will be on Aug. 2.
Dominguez was deeply distraught by the decision to consolidate the centers into a multicultural hub. “These cultural institutions weren’t lost like a sock, bobby pin or earring. Administration dismantled 50 years of progress for women, communities of color, poor working class, disabled, trans, queer youth and students,” Dominguez said.
In terms of transparency between the upper administration and the cultural centers, Dominguez felt as though the university had been leaving them in the dust for months. “The communication and lack of communication has been cruel, demeaning and demoralizing,” Dominguez said.
Adiba Nelson is the current program coordinator at the African American Student Association (AASA). Her boss and director of AASA, Jamaica DelMar, will be laid off. This leaves Nelson with the duties and responsibilities of both coordinator and director. Nelson claimed that this is a somewhat “cruel” process, as DelMar must leave her dream job/role. That said, Nelson recognized that this is the only way to ensure that the legacy of the Martin Luther King Jr. space remains intact.
DelMar now has to transition Nelson into her new position. “While I maintain that the feeling of it is, in fact, cruel, I also understand that if this new iteration of AASA is going to be successful and thrive, she is the only person who can teach me what she knows, and so due to the transition it has to be done that way,” she said.
According to Nelson, the centers will maintain their separate physical spaces on campus, but their names will be changing to respective titles that are no longer ‘identity-based.’ Thus, the name ‘AASA’ will no longer be official after the consolidation.
Nelson explained that she and her students will work with the executive director of the new hub in some capacity to decide on a fitting name. As of right now, the exact parameters for what the name can be are unclear.
In terms of the consolidation efforts, Nelson admits that this was not an ideal decision, but she was still relieved. “It was better than having the centers completely taken away,” Nelson said.
While Nelson understands the efficiency perspective behind consolidation, she also pointed out that different cultures have different needs, different ways of communicating and different perspectives.
“The term multicultural–it’s a soup. And you throw everything in the soup, and hopefully you taste some distinct flavors, but it’s a soup at the end of the day. Sometimes you lose the individual flavor of ingredients,” Nelson said.
Nelson then referenced some of her experience with students since this decision was released. “I think that the majority of students feel like this decision has been made on their behalf, for their betterment, without ever actually consulting them as to what their needs or wants are,” Nelson said.
Nelson expressed a lot of hope for the future and the competence of the administration to carry out the new multicultural hub. Nelson also pointed out some of the frustrations that Black students continuously face on campus.
“The Black students come to MLK because they don’t always feel comfortable on campus. I can’t even tell you the number of students who have come to me and said ‘I stepped out of my dorm and was immediately called the n-word,’ or female students who heard white girls snickering about their afros,” Nelson said.
Despite the consolidation, Nelson plans to continue outreach to freshmen and transfer students to make them aware of the MLK space. Nelson explained that it is her goal to make every Black student feel safe somewhere on campus.
Rather than being incorporated into this new multicultural hub, the Native American Student Affairs Center will be integrated into the Office of Native American Initiatives. “This move recognizes and respects the sovereign status of tribal nations, while reflecting our ongoing commitment to student success,” said Levi Esquerra, the senior vice president for Native American Advancement and Tribal Engagement.
The fate of NASA is largely at a standstill. Julian Juan was the former director of this cultural center prior to the consolidation decision. Unlike the other directors, Juan was immediately terminated without notice and was not given the option to compete for one of the two director positions at the new hub.
Juan shared a video of himself explaining his situation on Instagram on May 27. He began his explanation with a heartfelt plea to the Native students he had worked with throughout his time as the director of NASA.
“This has been the most rewarding and beautiful work I’ve ever had the privilege of being a part of,” Juan said.
Juan then shared details of events leading up to his instant termination from the university. This story began on Feb. 19 when Jacquelyn Francisco, a Native law student at the UA, tried to speak at a Tribal Leader Summit hosted by the university. She was physically silenced by Tessa Dysart, the Assistant Vice Provost of the Office of Native American Initiatives. Dysart moved Francisco away from the podium, and students reportedly overheard her say, “You’re not going to speak today.”
After this event, Juan explained that many Native students felt uncomfortable and even unsafe with the university’s upper administration. NASA held a ‘Feast Friday’ event on April 11, to which Dysart attended.
“I saw the faces of distressed students looking into my office,” Juan said. Out of concern for his students, Juan explained that he had asked Dysart to leave the event. “[Students] should not be afraid that they will be physically silenced by senior administrators,” Juan said.
After Juan asked Dysart to leave, he claimed that she said, “This is an open campus — I can go anywhere that I please.” Juan was uncomfortable with this statement, as Native people are taught to respect the places that they go.
In his video, Juan mentioned that this interaction was witnessed by two tribal leaders. Juan explained that he immediately apologized to the leaders out of courtesy. Juan also pointed out that after this event, he sent a report to the Threat Assessment Management Team. In the report, he said that he was afraid of retaliation from his decision to ask Dysart to leave. He explicitly stated that he was concerned for his professional safety, in addition to the safety and comfort of his students.
“It is my responsibility to ensure that students feel supported and that they feel safe,” Juan said.
Juan then explained that on April 30, he received a memo from then-Interim Provost Ron Marx, which demanded a drafted apology to the tribal leaders who were present at the Feast Friday event and a meeting to be set with the administration by mid-May. Juan was told in a meeting on May 5 that he could have his own tribal leaders present for this meeting so that he would feel comfortable. According to Juan, the administration told him that the mid-May deadline could be pushed back to accommodate the schedules of his tribal leaders.
According to Juan’s video, he was fired from his position because he did not schedule a meeting with them by Mid-May, as requested. Juan argued that he was simply trying to arrange the soonest time that his tribal leaders had available.
Juan said that the university also claimed that he did not turn in his drafted apology to the Tribal leaders who were present at the Feast Friday event in a timely manner, even though he had already apologized to the leaders immediately after the interaction occurred. He also was not given a deadline for the drafted apology. He was notified in an emergency meeting on May 27 that he had been discharged from his responsibilities without notice.
Juan felt as though this decision was solely out of retaliation for his decision to stand up for students and ask Dysart to leave NASA’s event. “I can physically silence a student, apparently, but I cannot advocate for them,” he said.
