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By Heather Urquides
Arizona Daily Wildcat
August 28, 1996
New students feeling alone and too much like a nine-digit identification number have places to go where smiles and help greet them.There are many centers on campus tailoring to specific needs of students, ranging from academic advising to just hanging out.
Most of the centers offer computer labs, copying and faxing facilities, meeting and conference rooms, study areas and recreational space.
The Asian Pacific American Center, in the Martin Luther King Jr. Building, Room 320, provided over 2,500 services to students last year, including academic advising, financial planning and other aids. That number represents the amount of services rendered, not the number of students served, for which the center does not keep records.
"We want our students to get involved, and we try to help them get through the system smoothly," said Cecilia Lou, director of the Asian Pacific American Center.
In 1995, there were 1,754 Asian students enrolled at the UA, which is 5 percent of the student population.
Lou said the center, which was created in 1993 to act as an advocate for Asian students, emphasizes that students become more involved in the entire campus.
It is not a place to isolate Asian students, but rather a place where they can go to relax or get whatever help they might need, she said.
Monica De Soto, administrative assistant at the Chicano/Hispanic Resource Center, agreed.
"We're not trying to isolate a group," she said of her center.
Instead, she said they just want to provide support for Chicano/Hispanic students and other students who may use their facilities. Founded in 1990, the center provides advocacy services to Chicano/Hispanic students and provides space for many student organizations to meet.
The center relocated last school year to Room 217 in the Economics building from Bear Down Gymnasium. It served more than 2,500 students last year.
Glenn Johnson, American Indian Graduate Center director, said the aim of the center was to provide support for graduate students by providing computers, copying and fax services, as well as space for recreation and meetings.
It was established in 1988 to serve graduates who felt they were not being adequately served at the Native American Resource Center, Johnson said.
The African American Cultural Resource Center and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Student Center are both located in the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Building.
Jesse Hargrove, director of both centers, is also the assistant dean of student affairs for African American students.
"We advocate the interests and articulate the needs of the African American students on campus as well as in the community," he said.
Although the center was created specifically for African Americans, it also provides a place where everyone is made to feel welcome, Hargrove said.
"Lots of people come in from non-African American backgrounds and participate in what we do," he said.
After all, he said, the center is all about promoting diversity, which is why the two centers were established.
In April 1989, students held a protest because of a need for more ethnic diversity on campus. From that, the two centers spawned, Hargrove said - the cultural center in 1990, and shortly thereafter, the King Center in 1991.
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