Responding To The Concerns Of Student Cultural Groups: Redesigning Spaces For Cultural Centers

Abstract

This paper describes the engagement of a student committee in redesigning an entire floor of a university union to accommodate student cultural centers and provide space in a fair and equitable manner.  The reorganization focused on the process as well as the task of allocating space, with an emphasis on the opportunity to foster the development of student leadership skills.  Theories guiding the process included Chickering’s seven vectors of college student development, the campus ecology model, the Social Change Model of Leadership, and universal design.