These past few weeks, there has been a lot going on at Hampshire College following the flag-burning incident, particularly weekly protests by non-Hampshire affiliated individuals. According to Dean Latrina Denson, “Some of the Hampshire students who identify as people of color feel that these protests are hostile; therefore, they feel unsafe.” This has prompted Hampshire’s administrators to turn to Mount Holyoke for support by requesting the use of our Cultural Centers as safe spaces for their students.
As the Student Assistant of the Asian Center for Empowerment (ACE), one of MHC’s Cultural Centers, I’ve been involved in this situation and it has reminded me of how fortunate Mount Holyoke students are to have designated safe spaces. Back when I was a prospective student, one of the many things I loved about Mount Holyoke was the Asian Center for Empowerment. I was currently attending a predominantly white independent school in Arizona, so the ACE House was a big deal for me. And it is a big deal for many other students as well, but sometimes people (myself included) take for granted how important and awesome our Cultural Centers are.
The ACE House serves as a safe space for the Asian-American and Asian student community. It is one of five Cultural Centers on campus. Aside from the ACE there is the Betty Shabazz House (for our African-American, African, and Afro-Caribbean student community), the Jeanette Marks House (for our LGBTQIA student community), the Eliana Ortega House (for our Latinx student community), and the Zowie Banteah House (for our Native American and Indigenous student community).
The ACE has 10 affiliated organizations, including ASA (the Asian Student Association), AASIA (Asian American Sisters in Action), KASA (Korean American Sisters Association), CCA (Chinese Cultural Association), Liga Filipina, VSA (Vietnamese Student Association), AWAZ (South Asian Student Association), Bangla Club, NEPSO (Nepali Student Organization), and PSC (Kuch Karo: Pakistani Students for Change).
ASA (the Asian Student Association) was very instrumental in the opening of the ACE House. In the late ‘90s, students from ASA as well as students from the LGBTQ Alliance on campus at the time met with the administration to request cultural spaces. They formed a board called “The Coalition”, and rallied against racism and homophobia. For 30 hours on April 21 and 22 in 1997, a group of 23 students took over Mary Lyon Hall and protested along Route 116, demanding Asian and queer cultural spaces and requesting the creation of an Asian-American Studies program, hiring at least one Asian professor, and maintaining the need-blind admissions policy. In October of 1998, the ACE opened and the following year the Jeanette Marks House opened, both in response to student activism.
The Cultural Centers have grown so much since the opening of the first one (the Betty Shabazz). Each center is there to serve the needs of the students and to build and foster a spirit of community. For example, the ACE hosts grocery trips to the local Asian marketplace. The Betty Shabazz does group trips as well—this week, to ethnic beauty supply stores in Amherst and Springfield. The ACE also organizes events like Korean Drama viewing parties because sometimes international students simply miss watching regular television in their own language in a home environment. And this past Thursday at the ACE was a Christmas event, the 1,000 Paper Cranes Initiative with Make-A-Wish Foundation, where students got together to make 1,000 paper cranes. (Senbazuru, an ancient Japanese legend, promises a wish to anyone who folds 1,000 origami cranes. If 1,000 cranes are sent to Make-a-Wish Foundation, a child whose application had previously been denied will be reconsidered for a Wish.)
There are so many great opportunities to get involved with your cultural centers, and each is such a wonderfully unique place filled with awesome people. I encourage anyone to stop by. Visitor/Drop-In/Non-Affiliated Org hours are every Thursday from 4pm-6pm. (Fun fact: there is a Pokestop at the ACE, if that gives you any incentive.)
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