"If we had speakers or held study groups, [a center] would be so much more convenient," Cheng says.
And for the students who want a multicultural center, the benefits outweigh the costs.
Even as the Coalition for Diversity prepares to address what members see as a definite need for a multicultural center, however, dispute over the form of such a center remains. Most minority leaders seem to favor a general minority center, which they consider the most feasible proposal.
For some minority groups, individual centers for each group would be the optimal solution. "At this point, we are in support of either [a multicultural center or a Black students center]," Ali says, "but the ideal situation would be a center for any group that feels it needs a center, so that we could avoid competition for resources, which are so little."
"A multicultural center would be a great thing, but if you have a Latino center for Latino students it would be very specific to the needs of those students," Cortes says.
Still, Cortes says, "I don't think we should be arguing about a multicultural center [versus] a Latino center."
Cheng supports a common center over separate facilities. "Having a multicultural center would probably foster greater cooperation among the groups," she says. "It would force the groups to acknowledge each other."
For now, many minority groups are looking toward the Coalition for Diversity to lead the push for a multicultural center.
"We're spread kind of thin, and I think there's strength in numbers," LaRoche says.
LaRoche says that the Native Americans at Harvard organization does not plan any immediate actions of its own. "Right now we're just going to wait and see," she says.
The Black Students Association, however, has already begun coordinating a fund raising drive along with the African American Cultural Center for a Black students center. The AACC used to manage a center for Black students, but now only the organization remains.
"We are planning to organize an alumni fund raising drive with the AACC, because the first thing you run into is funding," Ali says.
"The more independent our organizations can become from the administration," he says, "the less concerned with the surface-tension-related problems distracting us from our more serious concerns, serving the Black student community and the Black community at large."
For the Asian American Association, Cheng says, other issues currently take precedent over a multicultural center. "Obviously it's not gotten off the ground. It's not something I think that students think is the most important thing," she says, citing other considerations like ethnic studies and faculty diversity.
But for Garcia and the Coalition for Diversity, the minority students center is now a clearly defined goal.
They hope that a center will give Harvard, which they have dubbed "The Peculiar Institution," a more hospitable atmosphere. But how their campaign for diversity plans to turn demands into reality remains unclear.
Over a decade ago, Harvard scuttled proposals for a minority "Third World Center," claiming it would polarize the campus. This spring, a minority students center is on the list of demands from the Coalition for Diversity. Now the coalition points to the success of the Harvard-Radcliffe Hillel, which has recently begun construction on an $8 million building. Coalition members say minority groups are...
The Hillel is a good model for the type of relationship we could have with the University and with the Cambridge community.
Zaheer R. Ali'94 organizer, Coalition for Diversity president, Black Students Assoc.