Community for all: Cuesta College opens new Affinity Center to help connect students to campus resources 

A new inclusivity center just opened at Cuesta College as a way to connect students to available resources and become a gateway to help them make friends.

The Affinity Center, located in the campus library and still undergoing minimal construction, opened its doors this semester as a welcoming space for students of all backgrounds and experiences to come together and create community, said Araceli Espinoza-Wade, associate dean of Student Equity Initiatives and Special Programs.

"There's furniture in there where students can lounge or there's also furniture in there for students who want to use the space to study," she said. "We're really just looking for it to be a center where students can connect with one another, and then they can also be connected with student success and support resources, and for it to be a space where they feel empowered."

The center offers resources for African American and Hispanic students, LGBTQ-plus students, and current or former foster care students. Its website, cuesta.edu/student/studentservices/affinity-center, has information on how to change your preferred name, counseling and psychological services, and connection to the library's diversity and equity books. The Cuesta community can also receive this information in person at the Affinity Center.

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• Photo Courtesy Of Cuesta College
• LOCATED INSIDE Cuesta College's new Affinity Center will be located inside the campus library and revolve around the library's service times.

The idea of creating a communal, inclusive space came together in 2021 after a Cuesta College school board student trustee wanted a space where students can come together and create community.

Espinoza-Wade said the space also offers an opportunity for undocumented students to connect with staff who can help them through the college process.

"We also have a coordinator in that space that provides support and services to our current and former foster youth," she said.

Former and current foster youth can receive services in building 3100 and room 3142 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and Thursday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

While the Affinity Center is on Cuesta's main campus, for those who attend Cuesta's North County campus, services are available in the Campus Center Building in room 1002 at the same times they're offered on Cuesta's main campus.

The Affinity Center will be hosting some upcoming events to help spread the word about its opening, Espinoza-Wade said.

"We will have an open house, and that's a collaboration with our Student Success and Support Program Center," she said.

"We were very deliberate of having this one space where individuals from all racial, ethnic backgrounds could come together because we understand that we need to always consider the intersectionality of a student's identity," Espinoza-Wade said. "I identify as a Latina cisgender woman, but I know that we have students who may identify by their race and ethnicity and their gender identity.

"So, we want to make sure that we created a space where it was reflective of our students' intersectionality and their identities." Δ

Reach Staff Writer Samantha Herrera at [email protected].