The Center for Diversity and Inclusion opened its new office in the Mary Graydon Center on Aug. 15 after undergoing reconstruction over the summer.
AU combined Multicultural Affairs, the GLBTA Resource Center and the Women’s Resource Center under the Center, The Eagle previously reported.
The Center is split into two rooms: MGC 201 and 202, according to Isaac Agbeshie-Noye, the center’s assistant director of student success and retention. MGC 201 houses the Gender and Sexuality Library and is considered the Center’s “main space,” Agbeshie-Noye said. MGC 202 is a lounge and contains most of the staff offices.
Construction began in the last week of June and was completed in the first week of August, Agbeshie-Noye said. The faculty and staff members whose offices were affected by the construction temporarily relocated their offices to the Academic Support Center.
“The staff bonded over unpacking and repacking our offices,” Sara Bendoraitis, the Center’s director of programming, outreach and advocacy.
Each of the previous offices had their own spaces before the Center’s creation, Agbeshie-Noye said. The GLBTA Resource Center was located in MGC 201, the Women’s Resource Center in 202 and Multicultural Affairs in 204.
The Center hired Tracey Livingston as the new program coordinator for gender equity on Sept. 12, Agbeshie-Noye said. Courtney Brooks, the former coordinator of the Women’s Resource Center, held a similar position until she stepped down in April.
The Center hopes to hire one more staff member for the gender equity section, totaling the Center’s team at seven faculty and staff members, Agbeshie-Noye said.
Bendoraitis said the Center’s staff members are still adjusting to the new space, but the AU campus is beginning to understand the Center for Diversity and Inclusion.
“It’s hard for people to understand that it’s one new center, but it has been a good success,” she said.
pjones@theeagleonline.com
