The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Multicultural Student Center (MSC) looked to the past and what’s to come last night as it celebrated its 35th anniversary.
Thursday evening, hundreds attended the MSC’s anniversary event at UW-Madison’s Memorial Union. The event highlighted its history and continued work with its inaugural director, Candance McDowell, speaking on its progression so far and its current director, Claudia Guzman, speaking on her hopes for MSC’s future.
The MSC also announced a fundraising effort for the center’s food insecurity initiative. In partnership with the Memorial Union, which provided the MSC its first home, MSC created a limited edition miniature version of the Union’s iconic terrace chair, painted black and sprinkled with four colors representing the four identity centers currently active on campus: yellow for the Black Cultural Center, blue for the Indigenous Student Center, teal for the Latinx Cultural Center and red for the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Student Center.
A limited number of the chairs are available for purchase for $19.99 now at Union South, Memorial Union and online at the Terrace Store website.
“I’m especially happy to just be connected to Candace McDowell, the founding director and for her to be here tonight and to really talk about what her experience was like and then also to offer advice to us during this really volatile time in history for orgs like ours,” Guzman said. “I can’t think of a better way to celebrate this milestone than making sure that she is here to see her legacy unfold and to really kind of bless us as we continue the journey.”
The history of the MSC stretches back to 1968 following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. At the time, UW-Madison Chancellor William H. Sewell formed an emergency “Committee on Studies in Instruction and Race Relations” to consider how the university can better understand issues on race relations. It recommended the creation of a Black cultural center.
In October of that year, UW-Madison opened the Afro-American and Race Relations Center at 929 University Ave. Two years later in 1970, Kwame Salter, at the time a doctoral student in the Department of Educational Policy Studies, was hired as the center’s director where he challenged students to be advocates for change.
The center’s success translated into Indigenous and Latino students wanting to form their own centers in 1972. The Board of Regents feared a continuous splintering of groups but still wanted to provide support. The center was closed a year later.
Efforts picked back up in 1987 to create a space for not just Black students, but one for all diverse cultures without a space. In 1988, the Interim Multicultural Student Center was founded with McDowell as its founding director in a temporary space in Memorial Union with the intention to find a permanent spot on campus.
“Time is of the essence and the decision had to be made after any more meetings or discussions, students needed to compromise,” McDowell said. “Students agreed to accept this option only if they were able to call it the ‘Interim Multicultural Student Center.’ This will be a stark reminder to the administration that they will continue to search and advocate for a larger, centrally located, permanent Multicultural Center.”
McDowell saw the move into the Red Gym in 1999. Renovations to make the space usable for its new purpose followed.
She left with parting words of encouragement for Guzman as she continues to strengthen the MSC’s offerings.
Listen to our podcast interview with Claudia Guzman:
“There will always be new challenges, new issues and new loss posts to overcome. And I know firsthand how sometimes I become frustrated, exhausted dealing with these issues over and over again,” McDowell said. “The journey to get here was not easy. In going forward it will get harder considering all these political issues and attacks that are on the horizon.”
Guzman, who has been in the director of the MSC since 2020, was taken aback with the surprise words from McDowell. She battled tears on the stage to finish out the event where she has her eyes set on what’s to come in serving UW-Madison’s growing diverse student populations.
“The other piece that we’re really thinking about is being more intentional about intersectional programming and partnerships both within cultural centers and also with some of our other campus partners who work with underrepresented students like students with disabilities, veterans, LGBT students,” Guzman said.
Right now, the MSC is focused on bringing another identity center to the space for Middle Eastern and North African students and is going through a round of fundraising.
