After two years of planning, a multicultural student housing plan created by a group of UW-Madison students will materialize for the 2002-'03 school year.
In 1999, a group of UW-Madison students, including junior Peter Moran, senior Maya Ross, junior Jason Davis and senior Tshaka Barrows, attended a housing meeting and introduced a plan for a multicultural residence community. The students felt there was a problem with diversity in the residence halls.
To rectify this perceived problem, the College of Letters and Science, the School of Education and University Housing decided to open the Multicultural Learning Community in Witte Residence Hall. There will be 50 to 100 spaces set aside for MLC students.
Larry Davis, University Housing's assistant resident life director, said MLC will be open to any student seeking a diverse community and interested in participating actively in a wide range of activities. He also said currently the percentage of students of color in residence halls is rather low.
\The university houses about 6,900 students. Of those students, maybe 800 students are of color,"" Davis said.
Moran said the program will provide student residents with a friendlier environment.
""The idea is to make students from different backgrounds feel more comfortable in the residence halls,"" he said. ""This will give students of color, [and] students in general, an area where they will be able to be around a diverse group of people.""
According to Kathy Sisneros, a student services specialist, the goal of MLC is to focus on how each person's area of study has an effect on and is influenced by a multicultural society.
Davis said MLC will be helpful for first-year students' transition to the university and hopes to see positive feedback to MLC.
""They are hopefully going to live in an environment that is more like what they are used to and live with a group of students who are interested in similar things, interested in talking about race,"" Davis said.
Organizers will hold a luncheon today from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Gordon Commons room B5 to hear faculty, staff and student feedback.
