History
The Resource Center was created through the planning and activism of several generations of students, faculty, and staff who called for greater support for those at Wesleyan with identities that had historically been excluded from the university and that were currently underrepresented in the community. Their advocacy called for greater accountability and action around discrimination and bias, policies that promoted equity among all members of the insitution, and the creation of a multicultural center that would provide a physical space where marginalized students could find comfort, understanding, and material resources, and through which programming and educational initiatives would be developed to celebrate these underrepresented identities and to facilitate better relationships across difference throughout the university.
Demetrius Colvin was named the founding Director of The Resource Center in 2017, and opened doors to The RC in Fall 2017 and has facilitated the growth and strength of The RC ever since.
A timeline of select events leading to the creation of The Resource Center:
- 1968: Fisk Hall Takeover
- 1989: Report of Committee on Human Rights and Relations [PDF]
- 1991: Report of Presidential Committee on Racial Relations [PDF]
- 1991: Multicultural Center Committee Report [PDF]
- 1998: AACU Report [PDF]
- 2015: “Is This Why?” student organizing
- 2016: Equity and Inclusion Steering Committee convenes
- 2016: Final Report of the Presidential Equity Task Force
- 2017: Proposal for an Equity & Inclusion Resource Center
- 2017: RC opens
- 2018: The library in the RC was named for the Class of 1978 and was dedicated during Reunion weekend.
- 2020: Ujamaa BSU published a list of demands, building on the advocacy and work of students from generations before
- 2023: The Resource Center staff grows to include an Assistant Director (this position was reworked to Associate Director in 2025)
- 2025: The Resource Center staff grows to include an Administrative Assistant