LA JOLLA_May 23, 2008 was a day that will forever be remembered by the students, staff and faculty of University of California-San Diego, for it marked the ‘new beginning’ of its Cross Cultural Center. This historic transfer of CCC from its previous location is a sweet realization of a dream, where ”community wisdom and ideas take on an increased importance.”
At 5pm, the Cross (as students and faculty fondly call CCC) at its new location at Price Center East, was officially ushered in through the grand opening ceremonies with no less than Chancellor Marye Anne Fox giving a welcome speech.
“I would like to recognize the students, faculty, staff, and community – for giving their time, energy and effort to increase multicultural understanding – which is a very, very important core in what this university is all about. If we can’t come together as highly educated group to understand cultural factors, we’re going to fail,” says Chancellor Fox.
She indicated that the idea of coming together is evident even from the Center’s entrance – where it says ‘Redefine Progress’ and through the pieces of artwork that were placed there.
Fox continues, “Diversity is important in UCSD and our country, hence we are deeply committed to celebrate cultural and social differences and provide a welcome environment in campus. Why? Because diversity enriches our lives and environment, and so you are better person for having been here, your degree is worth more, you can be in a position of leadership because you have this multicultural experience as part of your experience here. This Center is here for you, and here permanently for you.”
The CCC was founded 13 years ago, to support the students services, and has done extremely well since then. Its opening back then was considered grand, “but nothing as grand as we have today,” says Fox, making this ‘New Beginning’ event its second grand opening.
Now sitting at the huge, spacious, and modern structure at Price Center East, CCC is now centrally located, at the very heart of UCSD campus. It hopes to open up for more multicultural activities allowing strong interaction between and among the rest of the student body, faculty and the community.
CCC’s Executive Director Edwina Wech was obviously joyful and proud of her and her team’s accomplishment, both in meeting the needs and expectations of the highly diverse student community of the university and the final move-in to the Cross’ new space and location.
“I appreciate that Chancellor Fox mentioned ‘redefining progress – as it’s what’s happening to people in our community, what our roles here to the community, and to those that are not here. There are students and parents that are deeply affected. And a lot of work needs to be done,” Wech says.
She continues, “What I hope what happens, is we remember the celebration, but when we see files on the table on specific students, groups needing assistance, asking for support - we remember that this (Center and its services) is only possible because somebody did that for us. When the Center was just in a box, someone asked: What if – what if the community was visible? What would it be like in the future, 13 years later, to be here?”
That ‘someone’ is none other than Professor Jorge Mariscal – and as Wech says, “we would not be here if not for him.”
Just how and when CCC came about - Professor Mariscal has the answer.
According to the professor, the history of CCC began with a simple request by Chicano and Chicana students (asking) for a small office in the then newly created Department of Ethnic Studies, to serve as library and study area, that was in the 1990s. But the then founding chairman rejected the request with a suggestive wave of hand, saying, “we do research here, not hand-holding.”
Mariscal states,“Such attitude was not uncommon. But years later, after much collaboration – they gave us the old mail room in the industrial waste land of east campus, and I was taken aback. But, even though it’s old, rundown and unattractive, for us it represented victory. Those early years of struggle were magical times, when students felt energy was in the ‘space.’
“Fortune smiled at us when Edwina Wech was appointed Director of the Center- slowly people of color discovered that UCSD could have a soul, that UCSD can sustain a community. Premised not on competition but on democracy and cooperation. But much more needs to be done.
“(Hence) it is shocking to me - to walk in here today … the nature of the Cross would overwhelm the institutional character of UCSD. That is still my hope – that the university acknowledge that it’s not the physical space that makes the community, but the people who inhabit that space.”
Mariscal said that several years ago, student-representatives met at University of California in Santa Barbara to strategize how the UC system would be forced to open itself up to community. In their closing statement - written by the students themselves - they said students must be careful not to be co-object in their further establishing relevance in campus. To not become so engrossed in programs created along traditional academic guidelines forgetting the needs of people that this institution is meant to serve. There’s an aura of omnipotence in the university of the past, and now it’s time to be responsive to the communities where the university is located.
With the grand space that the Cross now enjoys, Wech and her team of interns and staff thought of an awesome way to give justice to its unique character: a unique, original mural – the Cross’ first mural. Artist and young businessman Christopher Ryan Kent was commissioned to render the art piece.
Kent got connected with the Cross through his design company ‘ByProdukts’, where CCC Assistant Director Violeta Gonzales saw his work and recommended him to the Cross interns who were looking to do something special for the grand opening.
“I jumped on it right away, it’s a great opportunity,” says Ryan Kent.
He was so inspired to be doing something for his former school – taking him three months and 350 hours of work, from concept to completion, to give the Cross its first ever original mural, now one of the most beautiful and engaging art pieces that welcome the visitors of the Cross.
“The CCC interns came up with an idea (of the design) from inputs and ideas they gathered from major players in CCC – basically sharing what they’re looking for. According to them, their main focus for this piece should involve the major aspects of CCC, one being individuality, another is activism, and community. I tried my best to incorporate those things symbolically and literally. Everything in there is symbolic, I tried to capture as much as what the Center is all about.
“From there, I put a serious spin on it, hoping they’d like it, and I’m glad it worked out. As the project progressed, I kept Violeta and the interns updated on the project’s status, giving them progress shots. But majority in CCC haven’t seen it until yesterday and today at the grand opening. In fact, we installed the mural just this morning,” Kent states.
During his segment at the inaugural program, Ryan Kent presented his work and everything that was placed and used to come up with such a great piece. He explained each and every detail of the mural. It was evident that he has put a great deal of research into the piece to be able to bring about the values that CCC hold dear -individualism strength, beauty, connection, energy, community, activism, music, environment, among others. He went to the very detail and reasons why he chose one symbol or element to the next, explaining even its geometric aspects and the meaning of things found in the mural like sun and stars, flowers, halo, etc.
A guest from the full-packed crowd asked Ryan if he liked his work, to which he replied, “Do I like it? I’m pretty happy with it.” And a resounding applause followed.
Kent said he was thankful that he has been a part of the Cross. As he offered the mural to this special occasion for the Cross, he also dedicated his work to his mother, Renae Kent, as it’s her birthday, too.
Christopher Ryan Kent studied in UCSD from 1997 to 2001.
“It was the most life-changing experience for me, I feel like I owe the school a lot. The people I met became dear friends to me, that’s a long time ago, but still maintained our contact.
“I actually started with my major in bio chemistry. I got lucky to have worked for and did some research at the Salk Institute – it was a good opportunity to learn and do bio chemical experiments. It’s like an apprentice, but a great experience. The further I got along, however, I realized that’s not the one thing I wanted to be doing the rest of my life. It wasn’t for me,” says Kent.
He then moved to Cognitive Psychology, that evolved to a new major then called Human Development, being a big fan of psychology as well. He worked at psychiatric rehabilitation facility for a while, becoming a behavioral counselor in in-patient facility- where the environment is “very intense, you see the extreme of psychology.” Then he went to out-patient facility- where it’s more mellow and controlled- activities there dealt with coping mechanism for the patients’ ailments. It may have been a great experience for Ryan as he has met a lot of interesting people, however, it realized he was still not into it.
That’s when he went back to arts, his passion for as long as he could remember. He started appreciating the arts at age 3. He did most of his graphic art using pencil, with a lot of figure work, interpretive scene- understanding and presenting what’s going on in a scene. “I hit a point when I felt I needed to do something I’d love doing my whole life. As I love psychology and human development, too, I found a connection in between,” Kent says.
So now he spend a lot of time researching on symbolism, the values and things used by diverse cultures and what they mean. His major influence is artist Alex Gray for he incorporates a lot of different realms in his art work - mental and spiritual world, “that just through the imagery, it says a lot.”
“I am heavy on research. I find it fascinating to be researching on symbolism with a spin, which I use in the designs I make for my own clothing company ‘Byprodukts’. Every element in my design has a meaning behind it, as I promote real issues like nuclear waste, economy, and how consumerism is a major cause of all the problems we have now. But I like the design to be pleasing to the eyes first, so clients can further research what it’s about. Our designs spark social awareness. Just like our business name - ‘Byproducts’ which was established two years ago - its name alone connotes multiple meanings - like activism is a by product of a lot of issues in society,” says Ryan.
Asked is he would do a project similar to the Cross’, Ryan replied, “I’d love to participate more in projects like this. I’d be happy to do it again. I want people to push for individual awareness, awareness of self and society. Like at CCC, students and faculty love their job, they want to be here all the time; ironically, not all people love their job. Here at the Cross, there’s no way to gauge how much they help students; it’s very important to foster and nurture love in this transitional place,” Ryan Kent concludes.
Indeed, the work for the Cross Cultural Center at its new and awesome location has just began. The team of Edwina Wech, Violeta Gonzales and a dozen of interns – is prepared, ready and excited to move forward. They know that imperfections and glitches can come their way, but they will take everything in stride and a can-do attitude.
“We’ll move at the end of June, and we really don’t know what to expect - there’s a lot of people wanting to utilize this facility, especially our rooms are free to students, faculty and UCSD affiliates; it’s our 2nd year to have 12 interns; we’ll have a 5th full time staffer who is upgrading us in technology; the space is open to serve student organizations, various departments, community members and other campus entities; this is a ‘green’ building so issues on ventilation, even door locks, blinds, traffic to food court, and a lot more could come up. But through it all, we expect nothing but good things,” says Violeta Gonzales, now on her third year as the Center’s assistant director. Violeta’s job focuses on Educational Programming for Social Justice and Diversity Issues, as well as Student Leadership Development and the Internship Program. She also works with numerous student organizations and sits on many campus committees, both in San Diego and the state.
Violeta is proud of and thankful for the Cross’ accomplishments, because 13 years ago, CCC was just in a “remote location, an old mail building with ‘many fun things to be discovered’; it was located in a place that nobody could find.”
“But Director Edwina Wech found a space, close to 7000 ft, got it, and we always knew we would move. After series of deliberations, a final space was identified, but some construction issues came up, so we had to stay in a temporary location. It’s not at all conducive, but we made it home, we made it happen. Now on CCC’s 13th year, at the Price Center – we now have new desks, chairs, tables, high tech A/V equipment, even stove, large lounge, and yes, art works. The first piece to be created specifically for the Cross was made by Christopher Ryan Kent. And from what I hear from students, they really love it, it’s first thing people see when they walk in - it grounds you, it’s so beautiful it makes you feel you’re in a good place. We really appreciate the hard work Ryan put in,” states Gonzales.
Talk about experiencing an amazing, wholistic, caring, energetic, growth-stimulant and a loving environment – who would not want to be at the Cross?
In closing, Violeta has this to say. “Students call the place ‘Home Away From Home,’ providing support to faculty, staff and students, a space to hang out, de-stress, connect, and breathe; with a team that guides the vision of CCC on a daily basis, giving directions and an outside perspective. The ‘space’ is about connecting people, it’s all about creating space as students are going in between classes, bringing food, meeting up with friends, rehearsing - everything (that’s legal) happens here. Sometimes students cry, and we become instant guidance counselors, it happens all the time. They come in, you stop what you’re doing, because you know it’s all about service to students and the community. How do we cope? You just have to know it’s part of the job. My master’s program helped a lot. And the best part - having an excellent supervisor – Edwina Wech – I specifically wanted to be under her direction, I could not ask for anyone else.”
The afternoon of May 23rd was gloomy, then it began to rain. Seemingly, this part of the University of California-San Diego campus, where the new Price Center is, was cold and ignorable. Until your feet brought you to the Cross. And everything changed.
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