TWC considers change of name

The Third World Center held a forum last night to discuss a possible name change for the organization. Approximately 20 people gathered in the Jose Marti Lounge in the TWC to voice their opinions.

The major issue of the discussion was whether the current name insulted or alienated the student body.

TWC academics chair Melissa Fernandez '04 said she thought before social and political change can be made, members of the center must consider "how [they] reach people who are turned off by [the] name."

TWC governance board chair Nada Elbuluk '04 and Taufiq Rahim '04, the group's political chair, agreed that the name of the center did not reflect the wide variety of activities sponsored by the organization.

Elbuluk discussed several other proposed names, including "Cultural Center," "Deliberation Center," and "The One World Center."

TWC director Heddye Ducree mentioned that in 1995 a suggested name for the TWC was "The Carl Fields Cultural Center."

Carl Fields was appointed an assistant dean at the University in 1969, the first African-American administrator in the Ivy League and also the first in any predominantly white university, Ducree said.

She added that Fields was partly responsible for the founding of the TWC and for establishing the minority affairs adviser program in the residential colleges.

The TWC was founded in 1971 to provide an instrument for political change on campus and around the world, as well as to provide a social, cultural and political environment that reflects the needs and concerns of students of color at Princeton University, as described on the center's website.

The website also explained the origin of the TWC's name, which was picked to "align [the group] with the struggles of Third World peoples, their descendants and others who share their struggle."

The website specified that the name is not meant to refer exclusively to immigrants and inhabitants of foreign nations.

In recent years, the TWC governance board, composed of University students, has discussed the possibility of changing the center's name in the past. The last such discussion was in 1995, when it was decided, after much deliberation, to leave the name untouched.

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Some students at the forum last night said they want to preserve the name's political and historical value.

Frankie Ng Tze '04 emphasized the political importance of the name.

"The TWC reminds us that the U.S.A. is not equal," he said. He told a story of hispanics who are picked up every Sunday by white townspeople in Princeton to do menial work, describing the scene as a "meat market."

As long as such inequality exists, he said, the "political character of the center must be embodied in its name."

"We don't want a 'cutesey' name that makes people feel good," said Linda Boachie-Ansah '02. "We have a name that makes you think . . . and has punch."

Rahim agreed with the need for a powerful name, but said the current name does not resonate with minorities and students of color on campus. Many such students, he said, grew up in the United States and view the term 'Third World' as demeaning. Also, Rahim added, some foreign students resent being termed Third World because they do not consider themselves to be from such countries.

Other initiatives were discussed for expanding the membership of the TWC, such as moving the center closer to campus. It is currently located at the corner of Olden Street and Prospect Avenue. Another idea discussed was to open a cafe in the basement of the center, making it a place for students who have classes in the E-Quad and students from the eating clubs to gather.

The naming of the building will ultimately be under the jurisdiction of the University Board of Trustees. The TWC governance board will be able to make suggestions to the trustees and the administration.