MCC still searching for director and staff

By Liz O'Brien

The Multicultural Center will be without a director or staff at the start of this academic year, and it remains uncertain as to when the positions will be filled.

"In the spring, there's always a director search, and the goal is to hire a director and an assistant director, and that team hires the rest of the staff," said Jon Gray, director of the Center for Student Leadership. "There were two failed searches that happened in the spring ... that just didn't yield any candidates."

Presidents of the nine cultural clubs under the MCC met Monday evening to discuss the situation, and by the end of the week, the students intend to decide on a plan to fill the vacant positions, said CSL staff advisor Ericka Bratton in an e-mail.

In addition to providing an umbrella organization for nine resident clubs, the MCC also sponsors and staffs events that focus on diversity and cultural awareness, such as Global Village in the spring and Diversity Chats throughout the year.

Without a director, the programming section of the MCC that oversees such events cannot fully operate.

"The MCC provides programming and education to the campus, and right now, that piece is probably on hold because there's only so much that officers can do as they're running their own clubs," said Bratton.

Currently, officers from the nine resident clubs are filling in to cover some of the director's duties, but the need for a permanent director remains.

"What is currently in process is that there are a group of folks -- most of whom represent resident clubs of the MCC -- who have agreed to volunteer their time to help find a director," said Gray.

At this time, there is no set date by which the MCC will have to find a director, said Bratton.

The Multicultural Center Director oversees staff management, budget administration, MCC office and club upkeep, and management of the center and the Shapell Lounge. The director also serves as the central contact between the MCC Executive Board and the university community.

It is largely the responsibility of current MCC members to seek out a future director.

"We really look for students to look for peers that they feel would be good to fill that role. We're really looking on kind of a word-of-mouth basis," said Bratton.

The MCC, while able to run temporarily without a director, will face challenges if a director and staff are not chosen in the near future, Bratton added.

"The campus-wide programming that they do is going to become challenging if we don't have someone in that space. It's still the center. It's not just something that's open -- there's a functionality to what they do, whether it's weekly meetings or planning out the yearly events or the MCC open house," said Bratton.

It is also uncertain as to whether or not the MCC will undergo the rechartering process this year.

The rechartering process, which each of the university's eight chartered student organizations undergo every four years, consists of ensuring that all constitutions, bylaws and position descriptions are up-to-date, and deals primarily with administration, said Gray.

The organization was scheduled to recharter last year, but did not because of issues raised by last February's theme party controversy.

"We didn't want to open up the rechartering process for the MCC last year because of the fear that it might be a target or a lightening rod for people who have concerns about things that aren't really MCC related," said Gray.

Until the nine MCC staffing positions are filled, the MCC cannot begin the rechartering process.

"The MCC will get back on schedule," said Gray. "What that looks like in the next four to six weeks, I can't predict."

Contact Liz O'Brien at(408) 554-4546 or eobrien@scu.edu.