July 15, 2008
SAN DIEGO, Calif.
Danielle Parker
After the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, people of Muslim faith became figures of fear. At UCSD, Muslim women were harassed by multiple students. Luckily, the Cross-Cultural Center, described by intern Kevin Mann as having a “high tolerance for ambiguity,” opened its doors to protect these women.
The Cross, as it is called by staff and students, has been working to promote diversity on campus since 1995. But, it has just recently moved locations from the outskirts of campus into the new part of the Price Center. Unfortunately, according to the staff, the Cross lost some of the intimacy that its supporters had loved.
At its original location, an old mail room, the Cross was “a safe-haven, a sanctuary” said Kevin Mann. Joseph Ramirez, a staff member, said that people were so comfortable there that they fell asleep on the center’s couches.
This is not the situation at the new facility. “Old alumni came into the new building and were stunned,” said Lea Burgess-Carland, a new intern at the Cross. Lea described the new place as “more academic and businesslike.”
Lea also explained that the Cross is not allowed to stay open all night anymore because the Price Center has its own hours. “It’s so professional,” she said.
At the new facility, people reserve the rooms without knowing anything about the Cross' mission, because its location is so centralized and therefore crowded. “Random people just come in now,” says Joseph Ramirez. Kevin Mann said that the old location was hard to find, and that made people feel safe and protected.
But Mann phrased it best when he said simply, “It was home.”
