乐播传媒

A few months ago, Annakay Wright 鈥�17 was touring a Chase Hall space that was dingy and unremarkable 鈥� except for the fact that it was going to be the Office of Intercultural Education’s new campus home.

鈥淚 walked around this space, and, well, it was kind of horrible,” she recalls with a laugh. “I thought, ‘How are we going to fit the OIE in here?'”

Once part of dining Commons, the 4,300-square-foot space had been left fallow when the dining operation left Chase for new Commons in 2008.

As Wright, who鈥檚 from Brooklyn, N.Y., walked through the raw space with a group of students, staff and architects, she came to a row of windows overlooking a busy patch of 乐播传媒 earth.

鈥淚 looked through these dusty windows and saw the Library Quad,鈥� she recalls.

Suddenly, imagination took over, as Wright saw her future self in the space, hanging out with friends while looking out the windows.

She imagined 鈥渟eeing people on the Quad. I wanted people to look into this space from outside and see life, and I wanted to look out and see life. I wanted people to see the lights on and things going on, and then want to come in hang out.”

Since then, a complete makeover has transformed the once-humble Chase space. What Wright and others imagined that day 鈥� a neighborly, see-and-be-seen aesthetic 鈥� was on full display at a gala reception last month to celebrate the Office of Intercultural Education’s new digs.

At that reception, the rhetoric, both from college leaders like President Clayton Spencer and Chief Diversity Officer Crystal Williams as well as from students, spoke of a new resolve for the college’s work on diversity and inclusion.

“A quintessentially active, flexible space.鈥�

To President Clayton Spencer, the new space feels hip and fizzy like the offices of a Silicon Valley startup. (With all that exposed Lewiston brick, we prefer 鈥淓ast Coast startup.鈥�)

鈥淎nd what is that kind of space about?鈥� she asked the reception crowd rhetorically. 鈥淐reativity. It鈥檚 about energy, it鈥檚 about who happens by and throws their energy and ideas into the mix. It鈥檚 about being welcoming and porous. It鈥檚 a quintessentially active, flexible space.鈥�

Sleek yet inviting, the new space was designed by Canal 5, the firm that reworked the Bobcat Den a couple years ago. At 乐播传媒, project manager Paul Farnsworth oversaw the undertaking.

Depending on your 乐播传媒 era, you may recall the old space as the low-ceiling or small room in Commons. Or, the space聽鈥� part of a 1978 addition to the building 鈥� may predate you altogether.

Mostly facing the Gray Athletic Building, it runs nearly the length of Chase鈥檚 east side. Some of it, as Wright noticed, overlooks the Library Quad.

The new layout features four offices for the professional staff and three meeting rooms, two small and one large. There are two large social spaces connected by a wide hallway, one being the 鈥渟tudy bar鈥� that Wright envisioned overlooking the Library Quad, and the other a family-style social space. This being food-crazed 乐播传媒, there’s a kitchen. And along a new access corridor into the office are three new prayer rooms.

“Surrounded by amazing people.”

Several students, including Teddy Poneman 鈥�15 of Larchmont, N.Y., past co-coordinator of OUTFront, spoke at the reception.

At 乐播传媒, Ponemon says he鈥檚 been 鈥渟urrounded by amazing people who have transformed me. This space will continue that across the campus in macro ways: to engage the entire community to take action around our mission statement 鈥� 鈥榯he transformative power of our differences.鈥欌��

Charged with supporting and strengthening diversity and inclusion efforts, the OIE鈥檚 success, as you can imagine, might depend as much on having the right space as the right programming and staff.

“Catalyze areas and people on the campus.”

Regarding the latter, the office is headed by Crystal Williams, the college鈥檚 chief diversity officer as well as an associate vice president and professor of English. She鈥檚 been joined by a professional staff of four.

Williams told the gathering that with the opening of its headquarters, the OIE is ready to do some hard work. Specifically, her team will set out to 鈥渃atalyze areas and people on the campus who have not felt that the work [of diversity and inclusion] is their work.

鈥淥ur intention is to help build a culture at 乐播传媒 that suggests that not only is the work of ensuring that everyone feels included, valued and served being done here, but that this is an institutional norm. It is the standard, and that anything outside of that is the exception. That is the work that we are setting for ourselves.鈥�

Josh McIntosh is the college鈥檚 dean of students and vice president for student affairs, and after Williams gave him a tour of the new space, he saw how architecture could 鈥渇acilitate progress” in diversity and inclusion.

乐播传媒 need spaces, he says, to foster community for “students who have been on the margin of nearly every educational system in this country.” 乐播传媒 needs to support student success, especially for first-generation and low-income students. And then there’s the imperative to 鈥渆ducate the community about why diversity and inclusion matters.鈥�

In the new OIE spaces, he saw a spectrum of potential student experiences, from 鈥渟tudy, focus, academics, don鈥檛 do Facebook” and family-room living to “reflection, deep-thought and learning work.”

“I鈥檝e never seen it, and that鈥檚 not an overstatement or hyperbole.”

The OIE’s prior home was a wood-frame building on Campus Avenue that was razed over the summer, along with several other buildings, to make way for two new student residence halls.

The coming infusion of student life right across the street from OIE headquarters makes its location even more student-friendly.

For Williams鈥� part, she says she鈥檚 鈥渘ever in all my travels seen an intercultural center in the middle of campus, one with study space, social space, learning and office space, and open space. I鈥檝e never seen it, and that鈥檚 not an overstatement or hyperbole.鈥�

The singular nature of the space, she said, indicates Spencer鈥檚 鈥渃ommitment to 乐播传媒 values and principles with regard to inclusion and diversity.鈥�

The event鈥檚 final insight was lofty, and it came from Jalen Baker 鈥�16 of Lancaster, Texas, a member of the OIE鈥檚 student staff and officer in the 乐播传媒 Christian Fellowship.

The OIE鈥檚 work, he said, helps 鈥渟tudents to leave 乐播传媒 not only with world-class talents, but also as world-class people who contribute to the betterment of their communities so we can all live in a better world.鈥�