Amidst recent budget changes, Sonoma State’s Center for Community Engagement and Hub Cultural Center are now under the leadership of the newly formed Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, run by President Sakaki’s chief of staff, Dr. Jerlena Griffin-Desta. To make up for the lack of staff available, the two organizations will be jointly run and will become more collaborative with one another. 

According to their respective mission statements, The Hub and CCE are places where students are able to use their voices to speak up against both societal issues, and issues within the university. The Hub, in particular, usually hosts student-run protests and serves as an avenue for everyone to amplify their voices however they see fit. The prospect of having an administrator overseeing these protests, among other things, is regarded by former Hub intern Deja Whitney as a potentially “wrong fit.” Whitney explains, “I have an initial concern about Jerlena Griffin-Desta taking over…however, I think it would be helpful for the students to see her active in the programs these organizations put on.”

When asked about concerns regarding all the student voices tied to both programs possibly being stifled by this new leadership, Sakaki explained, “It doesn’t matter administratively where some units may lie, but rather that you can get whatever service you need.” She also noted that even though the two programs will be collaborating, they will not be any different from before, but instead, “They will be combined in a different way.” 

Sakaki also explained that Dr. Griffin-Desta was being pulled in too many different directions with too few staff members to rely on. To mend this issue, the directors of the Hub and the CCE both report to Griffin-Desta now, and the programs have been placed under the umbrella of the Office of Diversity, therefore extending the number of staff members eligible to handle duties related to both programs. 

The nature of the decision to combine who oversees the Hub and the CCE, supposedly arose from speculation of recent Black Lives Matter protests. Sakaki said, “In light of George Floyd’s murder, I really thought about how the university could be doing more in addressing systemic racism and injustice.” She explained that the two programs were understaffed, and all the extra work was being piled upon the shoulders of her Chief of Staff, so they knew something had to change. This, partnered with the fact that budget cuts called for a merger of some programs, created the idea to have the Hub and CCE collaborate more than they had been in the past.

“There will, and should, be different perspectives, debates and sometimes heated disagreements on college campuses. But at SSU, both the administrative and academic leadership center student learning and voices in how we make decisions and what we prioritize” said Griffin-Desta. 

Griffin-Desta assures students that the goals of both programs will not be changing, and any changes made to the way they run will only make them more accessible to students. She went on to say, “We all agree that our responsibility is to help create opportunities for facilitating critical dialogues across differences and to see that campus activism (including protests) is safely expressed.”

Both President Sakaki and Chief of Staff Griffin-Desta stressed that the Hub and CCE will not be changing much, and their move to the Office of Diversity is for the sole purpose of efficiency. Although these programs will now be overseen by administration, Sakaki and Griffin-Desta claim that they will continue to fight for student voices and provide a safe place for everyone to feel seen. 

The interests of the SSU administration and the two programs are fundamentally conflicting, which is why there is concern among students about the new leadership. The HUB and CCE are meant to advocate for student rights and give students the opportunity to make changes to the school that the administration won’t address. Griffin-Desta now has the responsibility of handling the conflicting interests of each party. 

With massive budget cuts and new leadership, the HUB and CCE will likely go through changes, despite SSU administration’s claims that everything will remain the same.