Lianna Dreyfus, the University Memorial Center cultural liaison at the University of Colorado at Â鶹¹ÙÍø, has taken over events planning for the Dennis Small Cultural Center in the UMC, room 305.
"The purpose of the center is to provide a place for students of color to come together and feel comfortable," said Dreyfus, a biracial and bilingual first-generation college graduate. "ItÂ’s also a place where students of color can talk about issues that impact them." The center also offers academic advising and counseling.
Dreyfus said many of CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍøÂ’s student groups have their meetings in the center because their offices are too small to accommodate all of the members. The center also is used for rehearsals by groups such as performers for the Vietnamese New Year Tet celebration, the Japanese Taiko drummers, Oyate student group pow-wow performers, and performers in Black History Month events.
Dreyfus is scheduling a number of regular activities for the center including games, music, movies, and live entertainment that she said will "reflect the depth and breadth of traditions that our students bring to CU." Art of various cultural traditions also will be added to the room.
The center is named for CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍøÂ’s first ombudsman, Dennis Small, a champion for diversity on campus. He was a professional baseball player in the then-called "Negro leagues" during the 1940s and 1950s.
As the ombudsman for CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø in the 1970s, Small developed the first cultural center on campus, the Human Relations Center, which was the only place for communicating issues within the ethnic minority communities. He chaired the first UMC task force on multiculturalism and largely influenced the diversity statements in the UMCÂ’s mission statement.
Dreyfus has held the positions of cultural liaison and an assistant directorship for programs at the UMC for seven years. She is accountable for all the student groups housed in the UMC, including 25 groups focused around cultural agendas.
"(Dreyfus) is very approachable and I think the students feel comfortable talking to her because sheÂ’s so sensitive to their issues," said UMC Marketing Manager Bhadra Mitchell. "I think sheÂ’s perfect for spearheading this project because of her background and experience."