By Cynthia Hubert

September 11, 2024

Sacramento State celebrated the diverse food, music and traditions of Southwest Asian and North African cultures on Tuesday with the grand opening of its newest equity and affinity center.

The Southwest Asian and North African Center, or SWANA Center, will offer cultural events, academic services and a sense of welcoming for SWANA scholars and their supporters.

About 500 Sac State students identify culturally with the region, which represents more than two dozen countries including Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq and Lebanon.

“For many students of color, it can be very easy to feel like you are a guest in someone’s house,” said University President Luke Wood. “We want students to see themselves when they walk on this campus.”

The SWANA Center is the latest campus space the University has opened to support students from underrepresented backgrounds. Earlier this year, Sac State opened the Esak’timá Center for Native American students and Jewish Life and Resource Center, joining others including the Dreamer Resource Center, PRIDE Center, Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Center and MLK Center.

“Sac State is a very large and diverse institution,” said Wood. “We want to ensure that every single student feels that this place can be their home.”

• See more photos from the grand opening celebration

The new center, located inside the Academic Information Resource Center, is the product of about a year of planning from a group that included students, faculty and administrators, said Aniesha Mitchell, vice president for Student Affairs.

“It’s so important for students to feel as though they have a home on campus,” Mitchell said, “a safe place where they can meet students like them, celebrate their culture and talk about their challenges.”

Marcellene Watson-Derbigny, the associate vice president for Student Retention and Academic Success, was among those who led the effort to create the center.

“We have made it. We did it,” she said on Tuesday. “When we imagine and believe, we can achieve our dreams.”

“(The SWANA Center) will help (students) find their footing, build friendships, and nurture their identities. It will help them succeed in all aspects of life.”

-- Khydeeja Alam, executive director of the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs and board president for the Sacramento area’s Council on American-Islamic Relations

More than 250 people attended the grand opening, which featured food, music, dance and a display of attire from across SWANA.

Speakers included Khydeeja Alam, executive director of the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs and board president for the Sacramento area’s Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Alam said the new center “will play a vital role in the lives of thousands of students at Sac State,” and serve as a sanctuary where they can grow academically and personally.

“It will help them find their footing, build friendships, and nurture their identities,” she said. “It will help them succeed in all aspects of life.”

Sac State student Amar Farhat presented President Wood with a gift box filled with food and other items from the SWANA culture. The gift was a collaborate effort among Farhat, fellow students Mariam Damlakhi and Zoya Altabaa, and Faculty Coordinator Amna Salameh, said Associate Professor of Political Science and SWANA Center Faculty Scholar Advisor Sahar Razavi.

“We are so glad to finally have a center where students feel at home and a sense of belonging,” Farhat said.