Mission Statement
The Chicanx/Latinx Cultural Resource Center (CLCRC) provides a culturally enriched environment where students, faculty, and staff of all cultural and ethnic backgrounds can learn about a diverse culture. Our objective is to educate and unify the UCSB and Chicanx/Latinx community through the mediums of art, language, people, food, and traditions. At the Chicanx/Latinx Cultural Resource Center (located in the Student Resource Building) and El Centro Arnulfo Casillas (Building #406), the UCSB community can develop an understanding and appreciation of Chicanx/Latinx cultural heritage and history.
Our Story
The creation of the EOP Cultural Resource Centers came as a direct result of student activism in the late 1990’s, during which time students from various historically excluded groups petitioned the University for dedicated safe spaces on campus. On October 22, 1998, students occupied Cheadle Hall and impressed upon the campus administration the need to support the lives of marginalized students. One of the student “demands” called for the construction of a new building to “house student resource centers designed to meet the specific needs of non-traditional students and student parents (to include childcare), the Queer student community, the Native American student community, the Chicano/a Student community, the Asian American student community, the African American student community, and the Middle Eastern student community.”
Following the completion of the Student Resource Building and the opening of the new Cultural Resource Centers in February 2007, the CRCs have served an invaluable role in our community as spaces that facilitate cultural-based programming and strives to foster safe environments for both individual students and culturally affiliated campus organizations. The CRCs serve as a hub for students and are foundational for the events and meetings necessary to sustain cultural organizations at UCSB.
Center Goals
- To educate the Chicanx/Latinx community and the UCSB community about the diversity that encompasses the Chicanx/Latinx cultural community.
- To provide a physical space that reflects the perspectives and culture of Chicanx/Latinx students.
- To provide educational, cultural and social programming that affirms and celebrates Chicanx/Latinx identity and values, as well as the awareness of the social, political, historical and cultural realities of the Chicanx/Latinx population.
- To support the retention and graduation of Chicanx/Latinx students by engaging in best practices that promote students’ academic achievement.
- To broaden and facilitate the channels of communication between Chicanx/Latinx students and the greater UCSB student community, faculty and staff.
- To support the development of students interested in the Chicanx/Latinx culture and provide information to enhance cultural awareness at UCSB.
- To participate in the university’s effort to provide multicultural education to the greater UCSB student community.