If you’ve been in the Student Center recently, you couldn’t have missed the New Claudette Blot Multicultural Center (MCC). Complete with floor-to-ceiling windows, fresh carpeting, a sky light, the comfiest couch on campus, and the biggest monitor I’ve ever seen, the MCC has done a complete 180 from the bleak room it used to be.
The new MCC was part of an initiative on campus by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion to create more safe and inclusive spaces on campus. Katie Lampley, the VP and Chief Diversity and Inclusion officer reached out to me as well as other students of color on campus to get our input on what could make the MCC better.
As an Asian American student, I advocated for more furniture and design elements that appeal to Asian cultures and identities. And my requests weren’t ignored. Complete with more colorful wall designs, floor seating options, and low platform ottomans and tables, the MCC is incorporating many more cultures than it had before.
The space also has a fitting new name. Named after the MCC’s Associate Director, the Claudette Blot Multicultural Center is a praise to Claudette’s devotion to the MCC and the Bentley community. Claudette is on Bentley’s CARE Team, is an advisor to several identity organizations on campus, runs the Peer2Peer Mentor Program, and much more. She is hard to miss on campus with her upbeat attitude and huge smile when she sees her favorite students. As someone who has worked closely with Claudette before, I can confidently say she is one of the most caring, empathic, and understanding staff members on this campus, and I have never met someone who is so committed to the betterment of her students and her community.
Last weekend, Bentley celebrated the new MCC with an open house complete with appetizers, desserts, and plenty of Bentley faculty, staff, and students to celebrate. Bentley’s marketing team also made an appearance at the open house, snapping shots of the smiling MCC community after this long awaited renovation.
While this MCC renovation may just feel like a cool update to campus, it represents so much more. With Bentley being a predominantly-white institution, many POC voices can feel underrepresented or ignored. Being the minority, it can be hard for us to find our ‘place’ on campus. But now the MCC is that place – and Bentley’s efforts to thoroughly renovate this space after extensive input from students shows that our university is taking a step in the right direction. While this project was just meant to create a safer and more inclusive space on campus, the Claudette Blot Multicultural Center serves as a home away from home for many.