Talk of a multicultural center on the ISU campus is nothing new. For years, there have been discussions, debates and dialogue surrounding the idea. It stems from a 1993 report on recruitment and retention of minority students that suggested the creation of such a center.

There are more than 800 ISU students’ signatures on a current petition to build a multicultural center.

A multicultural center is a great idea, and has been since the thought first appeared. A central location on campus where all students – not only minority students – can converge will develop a sense of community on this campus that can help make Iowa State a more welcoming place for minorities. And it would work to retain the minority students who do come here, which the university continues to claim as a goal.

Jason Smolka, president of Fraternos Unidos, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and Mexican-American Young Achievers Society, said he plans to submit the petition to President Gregory Geoffroy in an attempt to make the idea a priority in the minds of the administration, the ones who control the purse strings in a time of budget crisis.

If people want the creation of a multicultural center to be an idea university administration will be receptive to any time in the near future, students and everyone else involved in the process will have to sit down and plan out a sound, coherent proposal for the center. After all, there’s been talk of a “multicultural center” for a while. But what exactly is it?

Would it be an office building? A meeting area for students and student organizations? A hall with classrooms dedicated to multicultural and diversity classes? A museum celebrating diversity at Iowa State?

With all the talk of such a center, there hasn’t been a well-planned and well-thought out proposal detailing what exactly this multicultural center would entail. Smolka said he envisions a centrally located building that has both classrooms and meeting rooms. But let’s go even further.

People on campus want this building. It is something that can distinguish Iowa State University from similar universities in the Midwest as a place where minorities are welcome – even here in little ol’ Ames, Iowa. GSB created a multicultural task force in 1997, which sent a proposal to President Martin Jischke. It got nowhere. But Jischke’s gone now and Geoffroy will undoubtedly be more open to the idea.

If those interested truly want to sell this idea to the powers-that-be, support will have to come from the student body itself. The students are the ones that must take the initiative on this one.

If there is a large enough demand, and a strong coherent plan is presented to the administration, it will be that much harder for them to disregard it as just another student pipe dream.

editorialboard: Andrea Hauser, Tim Paluch, Michelle Kann, Charlie Weaver, Omar Tesdell