Student-led effort culminates in grand opening of CWU Multicultural Center

After several years of collaboration between students, staff, alumni, and the Central Washington University administration, the Ellensburg campus is ready to welcome students to the newly opened Multicultural Center (MCC), located on the first floor of Black Hall.

The joyous occasion was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 10, attended by Wildcats from all walks of life, including Board of Trustees member Zabrina Jenkins, who graduated from CWU in 1992. Jenkins has been a staunch supporter of the project since its inception and was overjoyed to see its completion.

“When I was a student going to school here, I fondly remember all the gathering places we had to make for ourselves, back before we had the SURC and now the MCC,” she said. “When we started talking about building a space like this where students could feel welcomed and have that sense of belonging, they pitched the idea of the Multicultural Center, so I started directing my charitable contributions towards the project.”

Jenkins’ support of the work has led to the dedication of the MCC’s student lounge in her name, creating a lasting legacy in a space she helped bring into existence.

“My hope is that this is a place where students can come together and share their different lived experiences and build a sense of community,” she said. “I want people to see this as an extension of their college experience, and as an example of what can be sustained through giving back to our school.”

MCC Director Mal Stewman has played a crucial role in building the kind of community it takes to sustain a space like this, which exists to serve every single Wildcat looking for a place to call home. As a CWU alum himself, he is proud to see the MCC come together after years of hard work by students, faculty, and staff.

“We like to call this a place to find your place. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you’re connected to, if you need to find someplace to be, we want to help with that,” he said. “All are welcome.”

Stewman and his team have worked hard over the course of several years to refine the concept for the MCC and ensure that every student can find what they’re looking for, even if it’s something the team may not have foreseen.

“I think as students find it and use it more often, we’ll start to see adaptive uses of the space that we hadn’t thought about before, which I’m very excited about,” he said. “We’ve already had dance practices in here and we’ve had game nights, so I’m curious to see what they come up with.”

Currently, the MCC features a full working kitchen, a meditation and prayer room, a dance studio, several flexible meeting and study spaces, and the aforementioned The Zabrina Jenkins Family Welcome Lounge.

Jenkins, who attended CWU at the same time as Stewman, is confident that the leadership he brings to the table will be transformative for the students he serves.

“It’s super personal and exciting to see this finally come to fruition, and to see my classmate Mal Stewman be at the helm of the project,” Jenkins said. “Knowing how much work and time and effort he’s poured into our students is so fulfilling to see, because I remember when his office was just a room upstairs at the SURC.”

The ribbon-cutting ceremony featured speeches from Stewman, Jenkins, CWU President Jim Wohlpart, VP of Student Engagement and Success Verónica Gómez-Vilchis, ASCWU President Hondo Acosta-Vega, ASCWU Equity and Services Council Director of Equity and Multicultural Affairs Salima Oulcaid, and Washington State Representative Alex Ybarra (’85). The occasion was attended by past ASCWU Presidents Malik Cantu (’25) and Armando Ortiz (’17), both of whom played key roles in organizing student support for the project.

Stewman recognizes that passion and hard work, and he knows that with the space complete, the real work of reaching students where they are can begin.

“Students have been advocating for this for a long time,” he said. “Different groups of student leaders from the Equity and Services Council and ASCWU have led the charge, and it’s really cool to see their dreams become reality. While there are always going to be some staff and administrative elements to this, it is, and has always been, all about the students.”