In celebration of its 35-year partnership with the Wisconsin Union, the Multicultural Student Center (MSC) announced limited-edition miniature Terrace chairs Thursday evening as part of a new fundraising effort targeting food insecurity.
The announcement came during the MSC’s 35th Anniversary Gala, which saw students, staff and alumni enjoy food, art, dance performances and more at Memorial Union.
Prisma Ruacho, MSC assistant director for operations and outreach, said the donations will allow the student center “to supplement and enrich the basic offerings students already receive from the campus food pantry with cultural foods and kitchen staples.”
According to The Open Seat, a student-run campus food bank, 12% of University of Wisconsin-Madison students are food insecure.
The fundraiser will last until Dec. 31 and has a goal of $50,000, according to a Wisconsin Union press release. The chairs will be available for purchase beginning Friday at Memorial Union, Union South and the online Terrace store.
The MSC offers programming and spaces to support students of color and other underrepresented students as well as the broader student body. It houses student centers for Black, Latinx, Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) and Indigenous students.
“Tonight, we commemorate together 35 years of the MSC's unwavering dedication to nurturing spaces, where every identity finds affirmation, where every culture is honored and where every student feels empowered to learn, lead, thrive and be,” Stephanie Díaz de Leon, diversity, equity and inclusion coordinator for the Wisconsin Union, said at Thursday’s event.
A total of 1,720 chairs were splattered with paint by MSC students and staff, according to the press release. The four colors on the chair correspond to the Black Cultural Center (yellow), Indigenous Student Center (blue), Latinx Cultural Center (teal) and APIDA Student Center (red).
The chairs honor the MSC’s beginnings, when the Wisconsin Union provided the MSC with its first physical space in 1988 at Memorial Union, according to the press release.
Editor's Note: This article's headline was updated at 1:37 p.m. April 5, 2024 to reflect that the gala was in celebration of the Multicultural Student Center's 35th anniversary.
Bryna Goeking is an arts editor for The Daily Cardinal. She also reports on campus news. Follow her on Twitter @BrynaGoeking.
