Cal State Long Beach’s La Raza student resource center will be having its grand reopening today after delayed renovations. The center has had limited availability to students this semester because of the work being done.
The renovations were mostly fresh paint and new carpeting and provided to all of the cultural centers within the Faculty Office 4 building. They started in early December and were supposed to be completed before classes began in spring.
The delays made for a rough start for La Raza, one of the last of the centers to be completed. La Raza is a cultural organization on campus that provides resources to educate students about the historical and cultural backgrounds that make up the Latinx population; however, the Raza Resource Center is available to all students regardless of club affiliation.
“Students need our resources,” La Raza Herstorian Jackie Cortez said. “We have computers, we have printers, we have a library – even just talking to each other [is a resource], especially with everything that’s going on politically in our country. We need this space to feel safe and to feel connected with our culture and our people and our students. And not having it, we just feel displaced and that our university isn’t taking priority over our students.”
According to Tony Malagrino, director of facilities management, the original work order was increased to include more rooms, causing a delay as they had to order more supplies.
Initially, the CSULB administration was discussing moving the cultural centers to another location on campus, but they were unable to find a suitable place.
“We came back to: what can we do to improve those spaces, to do some renovation as far as some paint and carpet, because we know that sometimes that can make a big difference,” Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Mary Ann Takemoto said.
“This place is is like a home for a lot of us, we’ve made it our home, so we take it very personally when it’s not prioritized,” La Raza secretary Jazmin Maldonado said.
The organization combined its first general body meeting of the semester with the reopening of the center to show students the new space, Esmeralda Antonakakis, La Raza’s “Comunidad” [Community] Officer said. She said the event will also feature art from alumni and current members and a visual timeline of the organization’s almost 50 year history.
Erika Suarez, the “Conciencia” Officer [Officer of Consciousness] said that La Raza is asking for a suggested $2 donation at the event. All proceeds will be going to feed students at a Nawat School in El Salvador that has preservation project to save the Nawat language.
The meeting will start at 6 p.m. in their center in Faculty Office building 4 room 262.