What we have in Commons
A chalkboard advertising the new Commons. Photo Courtesy of Luke Garett/The USD Vista
SLP’s 4th floor reimagined in hopes to unite students
Paulina Sierra/Opinion Editor/The USD Vista
Students familiar with the layout of the fourth floor of the Student Life Pavilion (SLP) in May might be surprised to find it has been rearranged into an entirely new space.
The fourth floor of the SLP has been dubbed the Commons, and spans from room 410 to room 424. It begins with the administrative side of the Black Student Resource Center (BSRC), then into their designated conference room, followed by the larger United Front Multicultural Commons, the Women’s Commons, and ending with the new LGBTQ+ and Allies Commons. With few walls separating the spaces, the Commons is meant to create more solidarity between the student organizations under the UFMC label.
While the bulk of the changes to the UFMC and the Women’s Commons were name changes, other groups underwent a more drastic change. The BSRC, for example, was previously located in UC 113, but has been moved to their current room to link them with the rest of the Commons.
For Ashley Barton, director of the BSRC, the move seemed an impossible task.
“It feels like the campus is at capacity already, so it’s kind of hard when someone says you’re moving to another new space, and you can’t even imagine what space it could possibly be,” Barton said. “When they told me it was going to be the honors space, I was initially concerned, just in regards to how much room it would have in comparison to how much room we previously had.”
UC 113, the space previously allocated to the BSRC, was one large rectangular room with several different sections for different uses. In the new space, the BSRC is divided into two spaces: the reception desk, which connects to offices like Barton’s and a secondary conference room for holding Black Student Union meetings or BSRC events.
“I think students were just used to being in that large space, whereas here there are a lot more walls, and that just hasn’t been our setup,” Barton said. “So, we just found it necessary to have 412 (the conference room) to compensate for the amount of space that we traditionally had before. It would also allow for us to continue to do our programming in our space, which is how we’ve always done it. For a lot of our students, it’s a safe space, so it feels positive and welcoming.”
The sparce inside desk space of the LGBTQ+ & Allies Commons. Photo Courtesy of Paulina Sierra/ The USD Vista
The issue of space is not unique to the BSRC. The LGBTQ+ and Allies Commons, which is new to USD, being inaugurated with the rest of the Commons space, was formerly a conference room, and is a bit smaller than the other spaces in the Commons.
The issue of space is not unique to the BSRC. The LGBTQ+ and Allies Commons, which is new to USD, being inaugurated with the rest of the Commons space, was formerly a conference room, and is a bit smaller than the other spaces in the Commons.
Junior Imari Clements, president of Pride, the USD on-campus LGBTQ+ organization, commented on the realities of the new space.
“Right now it’s blank and the furniture in it isn’t ideal, so there’s a lot of work to be done in making it our own, which is kind of exciting, to get everyone involved, but it’s also quite small,” Clements said. “Pride as a student org would like to use the space like our home base and hold meetings, but we just can’t because it’s really tiny. It is better than not having a space, and I think it’s a good step forward. In the real world, I think there are space restrictions in the SLP, in an ideal world we would have a larger space.”
The conversation of space limitations is furthered when considering that USD Student Media (which includes The USD Vista, USD TV, and USD Radio) remained on the floor after having been considered for relocation, as to give the space to one of the organizations accomidated in the Commons. This decision has caused mixed feelings among those designated in the Commons, especially organizations who received a notably small space.
“If you’re going to departmentalize all the multicultural student commons spaces into one floor, I feel like the whole floor could be used,” Clements said. “It’s just more space that we could have, because there are a couple centers that had to be downsized. If there was another place for USD Media to go, that would be ideal.”
Others, like Barton, had not really considered that space, and are open to the space being used if the students really need it there.
“I think that what is important about the UCs and the SLP is that the space is really central to campus, and it is important to have the spaces that are most critical to students be in these types of buildings, because it is the most easily accessible,” Barton said. “If the space is being utilized as much as it needs to be utilized, and students feel like that’s a space that they need to continue to use, then I think it’s fine that they’ve stayed up there.”
On Sept. 7, the Commons held an inaugural celebration, which united most of the UFMC organizations whose spaces were in the Commons.
Not all organizations, however, are feeling welcomed by the new space. PJ Miller, a USD senior and the sitting president of the American Indian and Indigenous Organization (AIISO), discussed his involvement and eventual ousting from the process of creating the Commons.
“We’ve never had a space or a commons area,” Murphy said. “When I first heard about (the Commons), it was definitely something I wanted on this campus for American Indian and Indigenous students on this campus, simply because it is something that the students are deserving of. We are on indigenous Kumeyaay land, and we don’t have a space that recognizes the students.”
While Murphy put forth an effort to get involved in the deliberation process of creating the Commons, the university already had a set plan as to what the space would look like, and he was soon cut out from communication about the Commons.
“They said ‘stay present, even if you can’t do summer (classes), because the SSS is going to move down the the UC’s, and everything is going to move over summer, so we’re going to get it done fast,’” Murphy said. “So, I took a summer class just to stay on campus, just to ‘be present’. I didn’t receive any emails or updates, and when I returned to campus this fall, I went up there two days ago to see how things were arranged. It is, in a way, defeating, because we didn’t have the recognition in the first place to be informed by the administration that talk of the space was even going on; we were late to the party. After that happened, it seemed like an uphill fight from there. I brought members of my executive board, we made our case, and it just seemed like we got left out.”
While AIISO is techniqually under the UFMC umbrella, it is important to Murphy that they be recognized with an individual space as well.
“The UFMC is great, I’ve been working with them for years now, but we’re all different identities and I don’t like that we’re all lumped together as ‘multi-culturals,’” Murphy said. “The main thing for us as Native people is that we’re seen as a political group; we come from tribal nations, so it is important when we come to college to receive an education, we have a space to strengthen and maintain that identity. Doing so, we don’t have to assimilate into other groups on campus. I don’t want to be seen as an org that just falls under the UFMC because we’re a minority. As Native Americans, we have to have our own identity, and keeping that, we can go back to our tribal nations and fit in. If we had our own center, we could remain who we are and keep our identity while supporting others.”
The topic of identity is not unique to AIISO, or the other organizations that were not represented in the Commons. For the BSRC, this is the first time the center has been so close to the other UFMC organizations, and according to Barton, this is not without its challenges.
“In regards to having us all be in one space, I think for our black students it probably is the greatest transition from being down in (UC) 113, where the closest space was the commuter lounge, and commuters didn’t interact with our students,” Barton said. “I think we were isolated, but I think they grew accustomed to that kind of vibe.”
For Clements, the importance of having a designated space is key for the success of the united set up.
“Physical space is very important for marginalized communities on campus,” Clements said. “I definitely think it’s good, and that a lot of good will come from it – I’m very hopefully for that community building. As president of Pride, I hope to use our proximity to other communities to facilitate that kind of community building, but it would be great to know that every community felt like they had their own home base.”
As for the sustainability of the current Commons, there are mixed reviews. While it is the hope of students like Murphy, whose organizations were not represented in the current iteration of the Commons, that more spaces be added, it is also clear that even the communities that have a space may need to be accommodated further in the future, be it in regards to the amount of space available or the amount of privacy.
The new outside entrance of the BSRC Photo Courtesy of Paulina Sierra/ The USD Vista
Barton predicts the LGBTQ+ commons will be moved in the future.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if that space were to be moved to a larger space,” Barton said. “I don’t know where, I don’t know what it would look like, but I think they could potentially experience a move. As far as the BSRC, I think that this space is conducive to the type of work that we’re doing and the students’ needs. I don’t foresee us moving, and I don’t see the UFMC moving. You just never know with USD. There’s movement all the time.”
Clements, who is planning the future of Pride in these commons, agrees.
“Even right now, we can’t hold our meetings in that space,” Clements said. “We don’t have our director desk in the center, that kind of thing. It kind of just feels like a room. I think that big picture, I’m not sure that it’s sustainable, but I think that we’ll do our best to call it home.”
While thoughts on the space are varied, only time and practical use will determine if the Commons can actually handle being the epicenter of so many student groups.