After a hiatus caused by COVID-19 and the departure of Whitney Hadley, the former Associate Director of Multicultural Affairs, the Mwangi Cultural Center reopened its doors on Wednesday, Nov. 3.
Open to all students of color, the Mwangi Center is dedicated to creating a space for Smith students to feel comfortable, connected and at home. The Mwangi Center hosts cultural and unity events, mentoring and advising and educational talks.
Hadley left Smith at the end of the Spring 2021 semester, and as of now, the Associate Director position has not yet been filled. L’Tanya Richmond, Dean of Multicultural Affairs, hopes a candidate will be selected to start the next semester.
“I am hopeful that we will be able to make an announcement soon. I get excited about … having someone on campus that can connect with our students as we would love to return to in-person programming in the spring,” said Richmond.
Along with Richmond, the Mwangi Student Coordinators and Smith students, the Associate Director plans events, manages the budget and facility use. Most importantly, the Associate Director creates a safe and welcoming community — whether that be through Mwangi programming or by being a support system for students.
For the selection process, Mwangi Student Coordinators and the executive boards of various campus unity organizations were invited to meet with the three candidates being considered for the position. These meetings were student-led, and were an opportunity for both candidates and students to get to know each other. As the Associate Director’s relationship with students is a high priority to both students and the college, student feedback is an important factor to the hiring committee’s decision.
“There are very big shoes to fill because Whitley Hadley was such an amazing person, and I haven’t met a single person who didn’t like her. I would hope that the next Associate Director would have kindness and empathy for their students, and be prepared to work with students closely,and I hope they’re funny,” said Becca Alonslo ’22, a Mwangi Student Coordinator.
For many, the Mwangi Center has become an integral part of their Smith experience.
“For me, my first year, the Mwangi Center was really important to me. I had a lot of upperclass friends from Bridge that really helped me integrate into a historically white college (HWC). This space was introduced to me as a safe place and it was. I spend a lot of time here — it’s very warm and inviting,” said Alonslo ’22.
Bella Howard ’22, a Student Coordinator at the Mwangi Center agreed, “Especially on a predominantly white campus sometimes people say things, and sometimes it gets very uncomfortable for sure — at least for me personally. I think it’s just important to have a space where students of color can feel completely safe, and just completely relax.”
Students are highly anticipating the new hire, as filling the Associate Director position would allow the Mwangi Center to re-establish its wide array of events, programming and community involvement as it was pre-COVID-19. This has included in-person programs for students of color such as the Bridge pre-orientation program for first years, the Multicultural Experience program and weekly unity organization meetings and book clubs.
“Pre-pandemic, people would always be in Mwangi joking around, studying with their friends and we’d have events that would be really fun,” said Howard ’22.
For the Fall 2021 semester, students of color are welcome to come to the Mwangi Center open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to midnight, and Saturday and Sunday from 1 p.m. to midnight.
