Recently, the NC State African American Cultural Center gained Frances Graham, an NC State alumnus and former associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, as a new interim director.
Graham hopes to contribute to the dialogue on issues of diversity, racism, sexism and gender on campus.
“I bring to the table a commitment to the community — engaging them, increasing their awareness around African-American culture and experiences to really bring more students into the center to provide more professional development and leadership opportunities,” Graham said.
Graham said that a big challenge the center faces is promoting programs which will add to the rich and diverse culture that it offers to all students interested. The center’s events range from art galleries which showcase African-American culture to speakers on inequality and injustice in today’s society.
“I think that it will take a multi-pronged approach for that to happen, so I think that we will have to go to where students are instead of always expecting for students to come to us,” Graham said.
Providing opportunities in the residence halls or with partnering student groups will help the center expand, according to Graham.
Graham said she hopes to work with centers like Multicultural Student Affairs, the Women’s Center and the GLBT Center to all come together and host diversity events which provide training and awareness for reflection for not only students but faculty and staff as well.
Promoting the center is a big concern for not only Graham, but also for many students who attend NC State. The cultural center has a great opportunity to grow inside and outside of its walls.
“If other centers can spread information around campus, for example the Witherspoon’s movie theater, the health centers, etc., then the same amount of work can be poured into spreading the word about the cultural center because identity and diversity are very important in this university,” said Viante Dile-Basnight, a freshman in First Year College.
Kayla McCoy, a freshman majoring in art studies, said that she felt the African American Cultural Center should play a bigger role on campus.
“I think that it’s important for students to know about the available resources for them,” McCoy said. “They can learn more about who they are whether they are African-American or not, but to just learn about the culture in general.”
Of the many goals stated by Graham, a big focus is the involvement of students. Her effort, combined with the interested students, should be sufficient in bringing the cultural center the promotion Graham intends to achieve.
“Creating new programs that our students haven’t seen yet will draw some interest with and for our students,” Graham said. “I think getting our students to develop programs and bring them into the center would be another way to get them engaged and find some ways to really get our students and faculty connected to create partnerships that we could align to create programs.”
Finding creative ways to add some fun to the cultural center is what Graham hopes will come with bringing in more students.
“We need a balance between the cultural and educational activities — the fun kinds of activities that don’t require booking a speaker or booking a place,” Graham said. “Taking students to the bowling alley would be as much fun as the rest of the offered programs.”
