Students in discussion during the Cuesta Cultural Center’s open house.
Photo by Rachel Barnes/Cuestonian

By Rachel Barnes
Staff Writer

The Cuesta Cultural Center kicked off the Fall semester with an open house to inform students of its role on campus.

Allison Phelps, the activities assistant for student life, is the advisor at the Cultural Center as well as the Cultural Center Club.

She said the Cultural Center is a platform for minorities and people of color to create discussions about difficult topics. They provide students a voice for students on campus.

“I think every place needs a cultural center to let minorities know people care about them,” Phelps said.

Its goal is to educate Cuesta about different cultures. The cultural center club inspires people to get involved by creating events for students to attend.

In the past they have hosted documentary nights where they showed “13th” a documentary about racial inequality of America’s prisons.

This semester, the cultural center has more events planned. On Nov. 8 it will be hosting a talk for women in male dominated fields with Heidi Harmon, the mayor of San Luis Obispo.

For Native American History Month, it will be hosting a panel of people who went to Standing Rock, a reservation in North and South Dakota.

The club has meetings on every Wednesday at 10 a.m. in room 5104A, in the cafeteria.

David Fischer, Cuesta student and member of the Cultural Center Club, enjoys the quiet environment of the center, and he likes to prepare for his classes while he helps plan events.

“I think it’s a good place to just kick back,” Fischer said.

To learn how to get involved with the Cultural Center Club, email Allison Phelps at [email protected] or visit the Cuesta Cultural Center’s website here.