Memorial Union to house Center for Social Justice

The center will consist of four social justice organizations.

By Krissy Tripp

Published Nov. 13, 2008

On Wednesday, Memorial Union will become home to the Center for Social Justice.

This center includes the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning Resource Center, Office of Multicultural Affairs, Relationship & Sexual Violence Prevention Center and the Women's Center. The unit will be moving to N214 and N215 from various rooms in Brady Commons.

Office support staff member Suzy Day, who works with the Women's Center and the Office of Multicultural Affairs, said the move was originally scheduled to be completed Nov. 1, but as the date got closer, the centers decided to set a later date. The later date allowed for a week when there aren't heavy programs going on in the centers, other student life offices aren't moving as well and the unit had more time to coordinate.

A committee is working on advertising the move. Signs and e-mails were put up and sent out to notify members, and Day said she is working on the possibility of advertising on the flat-screen TV in Memorial Union.

Besides the change of dates, Day said she believes the move is going as smoothly as possible. The students from each of the four offices sharing the new space are familiar with each other and work well together. During unit meetings, everyone discussed how to make the move smoother. They decided to merge simple office supplies and give each center their own color-coded labels to make sorting easier later.

"I'm amazed every day I come in and more and more stuff is done," Day said, "No one asked them to do it."

Day said they've found some pretty interesting things while packing. For example, they stumbled upon handwritten meeting minutes from the Association for Women Students, a student government that no longer exists at MU. They gave the historical finds to the archives.

"Everything we pack has a story," Day said.

There are a few members of the Women's Center who will have difficulty making the move. Students are planning how to move the center's resident tropical fish, but the specifics are being worked out. They expect the fish to become a part of the Social Justice Center community.

Day said she likes the new space because it has windows and a close proximity to all of the offices in the Social Justice Unit. Because the unit already uses some Memorial meeting rooms for programs, they're excited about the convenience of already being there, she said.

The centers are expecting more traffic because students will have an easier time visiting all of the centers and getting to know the people rather than just visiting one center. In addition, the centers have collaborated to create a cohesive lounge space for students.

Once the move is complete, Student Services Adviser Struby Struble has some activities planned. Flop Day, a day to just relax, is happening the Thursday before Stop Day and there is also an open house planned for the spring semester. The centers are entertaining the possibility of a move-in celebration, but they're not sure about a date because the end of the semester is a busy time for students.

When the new student center is fully completed, the Social Justice Center will move into offices there.