Nizar Al-Bassam '97 stepped up to represent Muslim students. Lanky and
athletic, outgoing and relaxed, Al-Bassam recounted how, in his first year, he
and a couple of other Muslim students had approached President Cotter about
their desire for a place to worship on campus. The College responded by
devoting a room in the Hillside residence halls to services and prayer. Last
summer, when every other part of the Hillside Complex was gutted for
renovations, the Islamic sanctuary was left undisturbed. "The
extra work on behalf of so few of us was a sym-bol of how dedicated Colby is to
cultural diversity," Al-Bassam said. "And this building is a huge symbol."
With that, Al-Bassam, a government and economics major and a varsity soccer
player, produced a tiny volume of Muslim prayers given to him by his
grandmother when he left his native Saudi Arabia for college. "This has been a
great source of support for me at Colby, and I want to leave it here," he
said.
And so it went on September 20. As Lawrence '56 and Jean Van Curan Pugh '55
and their family, for whom the building is named, stood proudly to one side,
representatives of the 14 student organizations that have office space in the
Pugh Center stepped forward and offered one extraordinary artifact after
another.
Student Association President Josh Woodfork '97 called the Pugh Center opening "a powerful experience" before shaking hands with Board of Trustees Chair and Pugh Center benefactor Lawrence Pugh '56.
The $1-million octagonal addition to the Student Union was conceived two years
ago as a common ground in which students of all races, cultures and religions
have a stake. Significantly, the 7,000-square-foot Pugh Center is at the heart
of the campus. The addition was proposed by the Trustee Commission on
Multicultural and Special Interest Housing last year as an alternative to a
multicultural residence hall requested by some students of color. The proposal
acknowledged the students' expressed need to have a place of their own on
campus, but it averted the splintering effect that special housing has created
on other college campuses. The Pugh Center includes a meeting space for about
100 people, a small lounge, offices for student groups and two kitchens, one of
which is kosher. By locating all of the student groups under a single roof, the
College hopes to create an interactive environment that will stimulate
dialogue, cooperation and action among students of various races, religions and
orientations.
In that pursuit, "the Pugh Center is a symbol of our next step," said
President Cotter, master of ceremonies for the building opening. "Work
continues. Today is a day of renewal of commitment as well as a celebration of
that next step."
Josh Woodfork '97, president of the Student Association, was a member of the
group Students of Color United for Change that called for a residence hall and
other changes on March 9, 1994. Woodfork said that while the other points
raised in 1994 were addressed quickly, resolving the building issue turned into
a long, hard job. "To stand here and see this building is a powerful
experience," he said at the opening. "The question now is, what are we going to
do with it? What's it going to become? What is it going to represent?"
Woodfork said he was disappointed when he overheard one student refer to the
building as being "for multicultural students." He earned a round of hearty
applause when he said, "We have to fight that image that this is just for
special multicultural students, because I'm not sure who they are!"
Recapping the history of the building, Cotter said the Pughs didn't hesitate
to step forward with the naming gift once the trustees approved the addition to
the Student Union. Further, it was Larry Pugh, board chair, who marshaled the
financial support of the rest of the trustees. "Before the three-day trustee
weekend was over he had raised enough in pledges to know we could do this,"
Cotter said. "None of this could have happened without the leadership of our
chairman, Larry Pugh."
"This college can set a terrific example of what diversity is all about," Pugh
said at the ribbon cutting. After-ward he said he was honored by the ceremony
and moved by the contributions of students. "Obviously they are great believers
in what this center is all about. Every student had something very special to
say and to offer."
Among those offerings was a Native American ceremony to purify and bless the
Pugh Center. José Larios '98 of Lawrence, Kan., president of the Native
American organization Four Winds, introduced Arnie Neptune, lieutenant governor
of the Penobscot Nation, who came as ambassador of the Wabanaki Federation,
which encompasses Maine's four native tribes. Burning sage and sweet grass, the
Penobscot elder purified the new space inside and out and offered prayers by
fanning the smoldering grass with an eagle's feather. For the cornerstone he
and Larios left Penobscot beadwork and a braid of sweet grass, a symbol of the
unity among all native peoples.
Mary Hofmann '97 of the Catholic Newman Council included a blessing and
meditation by the council's founder, Cardinal John Henry Newman. It read, in
part, "I am a link in a chain; a bond of connection between persons
. . ."
Sarah Olbrich '97, president of Hillel, the international Jewish student
organization, presented a kippah (yarmulke) as "a symbol of the separation
between man and God and a symbol of faith--faith that this center will unite
this campus." Then she and four other members of Hillel chanted a Hebrew
blessing.
Tyrone Boucaud '00 of SOAR (Students Organized Against Racism) had been on
campus a scant three weeks when he helped open the Pugh Center. "It's so
uplifting to see students get together to discuss and work to solve this plague
we have called racism," he said. He ducked under the rainbow-colored ribbon
that would be cut later in the program, plugged in a portable tape player and
offered for posterity the music of Janet Jack-son: "Prejudice, NO! Ignorance,
NO! Bigotry, NO! Illiteracy, NO!... It's up to everyone."
Henry Lo '97 of Colby's Amnesty International chapter presented Amnesty's
symbolic candle of hope wrapped in barbed wire along with an Urgent Action
Letter for a prisoner of conscience. Jill Morneau '99 of the Asian-American
Student Association contributed a friendship ring to signify the harmony and
strength-in-unity of the three complementary bands. Kyle Potter '99 of The
Bridge offered a rainbow flag and a state of Maine pin sporting a pink
triangle--both symbols of struggle and pride in the gay and lesbian
communities. Kara Landry '98 of the Colby Christian Fellowship presented a
three-strand cord and a passage from Ecclesiastes. Anna Tesmenitsky '99 of the
International Club offered a small globe signed by all the members of the club.
Becky Troeger '98 of the Colby Women's Group presented a photograph of all of
the club's members as a symbol of individuals who have become a community.
Woodfork, on behalf of the Student Association, donated his files on the
history of the Pugh Center and one of the black T-shirts that students wore to
the March 1994 meeting.
Khushwant Bhatia '98 was the final student to speak on behalf of an
organization. She noted that the president of the Asian Cultural Society had
been unable to find a current map of Asia, the society's intended contribution,
in Maine stores. Bhatia said that with all the conflict ripping apart countries
and provinces and cultures in Asia, "it is very important for us to have an
office where we can come and understand each other."
With a backdrop of a variety of national flags, Jean Pugh cut the rainbow
ribbon to turn the center over to the students as her daughters, Deborah Pugh
Kelton '80 and Diane Pugh Esecson, five grandsons and husband Larry joined in
the applause. The Afro-Caribbean percussion group Cabildo performed briefly and
later presented a drumming workshop for students. A formal dedication of the
Pugh Center was held October 12.
