Peter Merril, deputy news editor

Meredith Stafford, staff writer

The Intercultural Center (ICC) opened its doors Monday Feb. 21 in the downstairs hall of Krannert. This week, the ICC has hosted an event each night, open to the public that celebrated diversity and inclusion. Berry students belonging to marginalized communities have long wanted a space to feel safe, comfortable and listened to on campus, and the ICC hopes to realize that goal. Masks will also be highly encouraged in the ICC.

Macilah Taylor, Student Diversity Initiatives (SDI) Student Director of Support Services, said that the creation of the ICC began when students started vocalizing issues they saw with Berry’s lack of available safe spaces for marginalized students. During the summer of 2020, students began meeting with administration and determined that the ICC was a necessary addition to campus. In the 2021 spring semester, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committees and subcommittees, discussed the purpose, location and setup of the center were formed. 

Macilah added that SDI Director Haley Smith and Graduate Assistant Program Coordinator Ei Noe (21C) mostly handled the planning for the events during the Grand Opening Week. Macilah applauded the hard work that they put in to plan events that brought together different parts of campus. 

“I think we really want everyone to know this space is for everyone, but specifically a space where marginalized students feel safe, but also feel as though they can have productive and challenging conversations,” Macilah said. “So, I think that first and foremost, it’s going to act as a safe space, whether that means students come in here and just hang out with their friends, play some of the games we have set up over there, they just look at the mural, they come and and talk to one of the SDI student workers.”

Although the ICC will be hosting diversity-related events and clubs that function under the SDI, such as U.N.I.T.Y. and the Berry Brotherhood, Macilah said that it would be a multifunctioning space and that the SDI does not want it predominantly as a meeting space. 

Macilah said she views the opening as a victory following the stress and emotional fatigue of the process.

“Sometimes it just felt like a lost cause, but just having this physical space that shows, like, this is so much more important than I’ll ever know or be able to fully understand is exciting and I’m very thankful for the different players who made this happen,” Macilah said. 

Noe said that the ICC’s work is not enclosed within the center itself.

“[Change] can’t only happen in the Intercultural Center,” said Noe. “The hope with this is that it continues on into conversations in classrooms, conversations in the dining hall and Krannert. That’s where partnerships with different departments on campus are going to play a key role.”

Noe said that her work in the ICC is very personal, as when she was a Berry student, there was not a place like this for her. She expressed a desire for the ICC to be a place where people of different cultural backgrounds could learn about each other and feel safe, without devolving into debate.

“[This week] is not just about marginalized communities being heard, but in power,” Smith said.

Smith also stressed that students were the driving force of the Intercultural Center and that it was their initiative that sparked the desire for change. Smith hopes that the ICC will be a place for both tough learning conversations and a safe space for students. “There will be specific times when we are educating and training students to be allies and we understand that might be complicated,” Smith said. “But on a normal day we want that space to be a place where people who are part of marginalized communities can feel safe and brave, particularly safe.”

The ICC will not just be for marginalized groups, in fact, Smith stressed the importance of involving the entire Berry community. Berry administration, particularly Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students Lindsey Taylor, have supported the ICC greatly.

Senior Samantha Warner was excited about the construction of a space that would support communities not typically reflected at Berry. She recognized a nationwide cultural shift after the tragic murder of George Floyd.

“The national media coverage that Black Lives Matter has gotten has really pushed a lot of people to maybe think about these things for the first time,” Warner said. “So I think that Berry opening this Intercultural Center is part of a larger, national shift towards being more aware of these things.”

“We also allow some of the clubs to check out that space for their meetings. We really want them to feel like that space is there for those events, so I’m not as involved in that because we don’t want them to feel like they’re being micromanaged or like their events are official school events. We want them to feel like they have ownership of that space,” Warner said.

On Monday night, the Rome Mural CoLab, composed of partners Xavier Ringer and Ellie Borromeo, presented the mural that they painted on the ICC’s wall and explained their process, including the colors and the symbols that they used. For example, deep blues and vibrant oranges symbolize change and the mural was dotted with symbols for different races, sexualities and ethnic backgrounds, as well as allusions to Berry.

Afterwards, William Taylor, president of Berry Brotherhood, said that the ICC meant the world to him and that The Berry Brotherhood will use the space the following Thursday March 3 for a showing of the movie “Friday” from 6 to 8 p.m. William said that he wanted to foster a community with Berry Brotherhood, removed from politics or academics.

Warner is also excited about the new mural and for the ICC to be a space where everybody, especially marginalized students, can have conversations and build community. 

“I love the mural,” Warner said. “It has been incredible to see it come together from the idea stage to the rough draft that they showed us to seeing it on the wall, and I love that students actually did a lot of the painting. I think it’s really beautiful. I think it really represents what we hope this space will be.”

Warner also stated that they were impressed with how quickly the changes had taken place. She encourages students to utilize and book the space for identity-related events. 

“I just think how different my college experience would have been if this space had existed when I was a freshman,” Warner said. “As a queer woman from a mixed-race family, it would have meant a lot to me to see Berry acknowledging that there is diversity within their student body and that that diversity is valued and it does mean a lot to me now and I’m really glad that future students will have that experience coming in.”

On Tuesday night, at an event about Black and LGBTQIA+ Resilience, Holiday Simmons, founder and lead practitioner of Southern Soul Wellness, spoke about the importance of somatic therapy, a type of therapy that involves the body as well as the mind, in marginalized communities. He led the student body in a centering practice that made his audience aware of their own bodily sensations as well as how they fit into their communities. Student Body President Asa Owens canceled that night’s SGA meeting so that more people could attend the event.

Freshman Grace Todd said that she thoroughly enjoyed Simmons’s presentation and that she learned ways to soothe herself by listening to her body when a trauma response is triggered.

Wednesday evening, the ICC hosted an event about Racial Justice in the Church with Sam Collier of Hillsong Atlanta. This afternoon from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m the ICC will be hosting a safe space training for LGBTQIA+ allies with Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). Later tonight from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., an Inclusivv Civic Dinner will be held to equip students for difficult conversations. Tomorrow the ICC will hold the National African-American Read-In at the same time. The Carrier will cover these events on its social media.