"We realize that by pushing for this we're going to be called separatists, but whatever they choose to call us is fine," Garcia says.

"The campus is already pulled apart by tensions," former LaO President Efrain Cortes '94 says. "It's not due to ethnic groups, it's due to the lack of commitment of the administration to make minority students feel more comfortable at this institution, and a minority center would help."

Ali does not consider the push for a center evidence of separatism. "Many people just want to look at it as a withdrawal, and I think to that extent it's a misunderstanding."

"People would think it was a separatist tendency, and then it would be counterproductive to promoting race relations, but I don't think that's the case," he says. "I don't think a strong group definition restricts interactions in race relations, but I think that's the opinion people often hold."

"I do think in general in society there is a fear anytime Black people or so-called minority people or people of color are gathering together," Ali says. "I think that strikes fear in people's minds, what our intentions would be."

"It would only serve to strengthen the various communities, and if that is a fear, that is something everyone should be concerned with," Ali says.

Sara K. LaRoche '95, co-chair of Native Americans at Harvard, says that a center would not detract from the constant interaction minority students have with other segments of the campus population.

"Our whole lives we're with other students. We participate in daily life along with everyone else. As minority students, we need support for each other," LaRoche says. "As a small group, we can get lost in the shuffle."

"It might bring people from different groups together, but it doesn't mean that it will split people in general up," says Harvard Islamic Society Chair Omar Mabreh '94.

"I don't know about physical space, but I think already people are meeting and getting together around common interests and backgrounds," he says. "I think that complements the houses which create more of a mix."

Regardless of concerns about polarization, Dingman says the administration must consider financial issues. "You'd also have to consider priorities," Dingman says. "The University is strapped right now, so to have additional expenses doing the things we set out to do, it does raise some concerns."

"You'd have to consider what other demands would be on space," he says of the potential of setting aside space for minority groups to hold meetings or offices in the houses.

"It's very easy for a group to get the JCR for a night, but to designate a space for sole use is something the houses would have to address," Dingman says.

For many minority student groups, however, finding space to meet is anything but easy.

"I think that for a lot of minority groups it's very difficult to get a space, whether a place to meet or a head office," Sahyoun says. "Every group needs to have a main base."