UA Creates Crossroads Community Center

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama will open the Crossroads Community Center this fall to assist student organizations with multicultural issues and facilitate coordination of multicultural issues on campus.

The center is part of a collaborative effort of the UA divisions of student affairs, community affairs and academic affairs to meet needs identified last year by the University’s Multicultural Center Task Force. It is expected to open in Ferguson Center in September.

“We’re proud of our success in recruiting students from a wide variety of ethnicities and backgrounds to The University of Alabama. Crossroads Community Center will provide the support systems we need to assure that our students are fully integrated into all aspects of life at the Capstone,” said Dr. Samory Pruitt, vice president for community affairs.

Dr. Margaret King, vice president for student affairs, chaired the Multicultural Center Task Force. “Crossroads will give students and student organizations a place to address a wide variety of questions and issues. Its central location and valuable programs will make it a key part of our students’ experience at UA,” she said.

The center will advise student organizations and provide advice and counseling to individual students on multicultural issues. In addition, it will assist student organizations with recruiting members; serve as a ticket clearinghouse for cultural events and activities on campus and around Tuscaloosa; provide training on multicultural issues to student organizations, Student Affairs staff and the UA community, as requested; assist the Career Center in fostering multicultural skills important to employment; facilitate coordination of multicultural activities on campus; and generate grants and gifts for campus programs with a global and multicultural focus.

A national search for a director of the center is currently under way.

Crossroads Community Center is one of several initiatives implemented as a result of the Multicultural Center Task Force’s report.

In one example, two televisions with international programming have been installed in a study area on the second floor of the Gorgas Library. This new service was established as a way to help international students feel at home while on campus, and it has been endorsed by the UA Office of Community Affairs and Capstone International.

The offices of community affairs and academic affairs are also providing funding to renovate space in Gorgas Library for book signings, lectures and campus forums. Dr. Louis Pitschmann, dean of libraries, will oversee the renovation.

“We are excited about the efforts on our campus that seek to facilitate more campus dialogue around a range of domestic and international issues. We believe that the design and aesthetics of this space in the Gorgas Library will provide an outstanding venue for this type of campus dialogue,” Pitschmann said.

The Multicultural Center Task Force was created in 2004 by UA President Robert E. Witt to review the support needs of minority and international students and the University’s overall efforts to promote diversity as well as awareness and appreciation of cultural differences.

UA is a leader in the enrollment of African-American students among southern flagship institutions with 12 percent African American enrollment. UA enrolls more than 850 international students each year from more than 75 different countries. More than 600 Hispanic American, Asian American and American Indian students also study at the Capstone.