0 0 0 0 .. v _ -. 6B Wednesday November12, 2014 // The Statement Redefining a space: Trotter hopes to expand its community by Sam Gringlas In a darkened basement on Washtenaw Avenue, half a dozen students gathered Nov. 7 to watch old episodes of "Scandal" over Coldstone ice cream and waffle cones. - m Attendance was slimmer than the previous week's event. On Halloween, a few dozen peo- ple crowded the Trotter Multicultural Center for an afternoon showing of the film "Hocus Pocus." That group was so large the hot soup bar ran out early. With new programming and advisory boards, formed under the leadership of recently appointed Trotter director Jackie Simpson, the center is hosting a full lineup of its own programming for the first time in years. Trotter previously served largely as a facil- ity that student cultural groups, such as the Michigan Gospel Choir or the Michigan Sah- ana, used for their own practice or meeting space. But apart from a 72-hour study break during finals, Trotter lacked a unifying pro- gram schedule to directly facilitate interac- tions between communities of different racial or ethnic identities. Many students and Trotter staff say weekly programming represents a broader shift in vision for the role the center should play on the University's campus. Jessica Thompson, Trotter operations and events coordinator, said the center is trying to ado a better job engaging a wide cross-section of the University community. "We've got to encourage community, but we can't just say it," she said. "We've got to be about it and we have to teach what commu- nity looks like." School of Social Work student Charisma Hoskins, a member of Trotter's programming board, said she noticed a significant number of new people to Trotter at last month's Hal- loween event. "It gives them the feel that this is an open space for everybody and everyone's wel- come," she said. Founded in 1971, the Trotter Multicultural some of Trotter's current challenges, but for now, the center is still grappling with how to raise awareness about its re-envisioned pro- gramming mission. Green said that for many people, particu- larly white students, Trotter is perceived as a place primarily meant for people of color. He said that's just not true. "Everyone is part of the multicultural-ness, if you're white, if you're Black, if you're Native American," he said. Thompson said there has been a lack of awareness of Trotter's offerings and the staff has to do a better job reintroducing the facil- ity to campus. "We can'tjust sit right here and expect folks to come," she said. "We have to go out and get you." Many of Trotter's leaders recognize the potential for increased education about the center's programs, but Green said the Univer- sity has failed to introduce incomingstudents to Trotter's offerings, particularly during freshman orientation. "I don't think the University has done enough. If you talk about diversity and stu- dent life, it should be the first thing that stu- dents know." Though Trotter may not be the most rec- ognizable building on campus, especially in comparison to iconic structures like Angell Hall or Hill Auditorium, it has garnered increased attention in recent months. During a year when several incidents, fol- lowed by a series of protests led by the BSU, catapulted issues of diversity, identity, race and inclusion to the forefront of campus con- versation, Trotter emerged as a key piece of the dialogue. Since last year, the University spent $650,000 to renovate the current facility and an advisory team has begun meeting with architects to plan for a new space in the next three to five years. And though Green said Trotter should have a voice at the table, it can't be the only famous by association: why i want to be an olsen twin BY MARIAM SHEIKH THE THOUGHT BUBBLE mean, honestly, who wouldn't want to be an Olsen twin? Con- trary to popular belief, me want- ing to live the life of an Olsen twin has nothing to do with their role on "Full House," or their series of books and not even their various destination movies (how- ever "Pass- port to Paris" LET'S BE is an all time classic and H should've won H ER E an award). It isn't because O L SE N Mary-Kate is basi- WHO AR[ cally about to become TRULYEB French roy- alty (although P that is an PURE F added perk that wouldnot AND IN come unwel- comed). It is SI M P L Si quite simple really.- Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are the real fash- ion icons of today's generation. For- get all about the other celebrities whose job it is to be photographed in certain brands and at specific events.Forget about the Hollywood- packaged stars who are dressed by stylists and manufactured to be in Us Weekly or on El. Kim Kardashi- an (even after Kanye revamped her wardrobe) is irrelevant. And all the E V : r single ladies in the world cannot help Queen Bey get upto par with the likes of MK&A (sorry I'm not sorry). They not only have established themselves as being the epitome of high fashion, but they are bringing back sim- plicity and minimal- HONEST istic style that hasn't been seen IT'S THE since the days of SISTERS Audrey Hepburn, TH E ONES Princess Diana or SB ODY I NG Jackie Kennedy. Where AS H ION, did soci- ety get I ALL ITS off track? Who IC G LO RY estab-that the color black was only meant to be "Goth?" Who said that people needed to be dressed in tight, gaudy clothing in order to be fashionable? Style is something that is unique to each individual, always chang- ing. Fashion is timeless. The Olsens embody true and pure fashion, in all its simplistic glory. So, are you a Mary-Kate or an TERESA MAT HEW/Daily Jessica Thompson, Trotter operations and events coordinator, at the Trotter Multicultural Center. nities its designed to serve. "I'm sure that at one pointor even now, this may have felt like a members-only space and it is so not that," Thompson said. "This is a space for all of our students ... But for those students who aren't looking for that, who don't need that, how do we also support them?" Simpson, who led the University's Spec- trum Center before taking the helm at Trot- ter over the summer, said it's not unnatural for students to crave a space designated for people with identities similar to their own. "If I spend all day in a primarily hetero- sexual world, well when I go home to relax, I don't necessarily want to spend my relaxing time in spaces where I don't know whether people are going to accept me," she said. "I'm going to naturallyflow to places where I think Campus location in the next five years could exasperate this challenge. Though the Uni- versity's Black Student Union called for a Trotter that's closer to campus - a demand the University has preliminarily agreed to - the center's off-the-beaten-path location has shaped the facility asa destination spot. The current distance from campus means it is less likely that passersby will stop in to explore. That reality has resulted in a space that's feels homey and safe for students who frequent the facility, but also a space that is not well known or widely used by the general student population. Though a more constant flow of students into a Central Campus location might make it difficult to maintain Trotter's atmosphere of refuge, Simpson said the benefits of increased; "I would say that we have a responsibility to the changing society ... and racism and sexism do not have to define the future. I want to see a world where people feel free to think and love and socialize as equals, and people feel safe to be themselves. I think that definitely we've seen the society and the campus get closer to that every time we have fought for human rights and civil rights and immigrant rights."