Sophia Moreno began using the Latine/x Center for Academic Success and Achievement, or La CASA, the past year for its cultural inclusivity and convenient location near the University Union and other academic buildings. Many affinity spaces, like La CASA and the Black Academic Excellence Center (BAEC), are moving to another location.
“I feel like it needs to be in the center of campus and it needs to be super accessible to students,” she said.
The space Moreno, a transfer student from Victorville, California, has come to know will be different next year.
La CASA is one of four centers focused on DEI and needs-based support located in Building 52 that are moving this summer, according to university spokesperson Keegan Koberl. The university is moving the affinity spaces into Building 15 — formerly the Cal Poly Partners building — throughout the summer to open more classrooms in Building 52 as enrollment continues to increase, according to Koberl.
While students like Moreno feel uncertain about the affinity space changes, there are plans to optimize these spaces to accommodate them.
“A committee of staff members from each respective area was involved in decisions about the space,” Koberl wrote to Mustang News in an email. “This working group continues to meet and act as liaisons for our departments.”
Besides La CASA, the centers and programs moving include the BAEC, Cal Poly Scholars and the Educational Opportunity Program, Mustang News previously reported. TRIO Achievers will also move from its current location in Building 124, by Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
Building 15 will provide each program with several private offices for staff starting next fall quarter, according to Koberl. La CASA and BAEC will have their own spaces as well as a shared communal space for students to gather in the new building. Other new amenities in Building 15 will include a computer lab, a conference room and an outdoor lounge and courtyard, according to Koberl.
Moreno believes moving these centers and programs is a step back for the university. She thinks it looks bad for the university to be moving the centers focused on supporting historically underrepresented students.
“The vibe in this building is just to me personally so much safer sometimes than being out there,” Moreno said in comparing Building 52 to the rest of campus.
The communities to use the affinity spaces differently
The main lounging area within the new building will integrate La CASA and BAEC students instead of separating them like they previously were. Jeremiah Hernandez, coordinator for La CASA, believes this will be a major challenge with the relocation.
“La CASA’s actual center space is going to be smaller,” Hernandez said. “So we’re not going to be able to have people in community as much in the actual center.”
Hernandez was initially hesitant but has since become excited about the move after hearing more of the planning for the shared space.
“I see it as allowing the communities to engage differently,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez said that for the majority of students he serves in La CASA, a lot of their concerns stemmed from a lack of communication from the university, who he refers to as the “leadership” for the planning.
“Leadership themselves can’t necessarily make all the planning,” Hernandez said. “They need the staff members’ input because we are the ones here in the centers, in the offices doing the work with the students.”
Kyleigh Spight, an interdisciplinary studies junior, will be a student assistant next year for BAEC. Spight worries that many students will no longer use BAEC as often for studying and hanging out after the relocation.
Though Spight plans to continue visiting the new affinity space due to her role, she believes the current location serves students better. For Spight, the center in Building 52 right now is conveniently located next to the 1901 Marketplace for food, which she sees as an important factor to get three meals throughout the day.
“It’s like an essential spot on campus,” Spight said. “So it’s easier to get to all of my classes from here cause it’s like in the middle of campus.”
Spight also believes the university is prioritizing financial gain over the needs of the students they are directly affecting within the relocation.
“They’re changing these rooms into classrooms because they enrolled too many students and they don’t have enough classrooms for their students anymore,” Spight said.
Both state demands to grow enrollment within the Cal State system and year round operations are factors into these efforts, according to Koberl.
Although Building 15 will act as a student-centric area for these relocated cultural centers and support programs, Spight remains skeptical about the decision and does not believe the new space is the right fit.
“I don’t think Building 15 is that building,” Spight said.
Optimizing affinity spaces for more students
The University Space Optimization Committee — chaired by Interim Provost Al Liddicoat and Senior Vice President of Administration and Finance Allison Baird-James — is a group that “determines the best use of campus space.” The committee made the decision to relocate the spaces with the intention of opening up 10 more classroom spaces in Building 52 for “942 new full-time equivalent students,” according to Koberl.
Cal Poly’s efforts to create more classroom spaces is the result of the university’s commitment to grow its student body, according to their Space Optimization website.
“​​As more students come to campus, so does the need for additional classroom space and supportive learning environments,” the university’s Space Optimization website states. Last year Cal Poly enrolled 22,842 students, the highest it has ever had, according to Institutional Research data.
Last year, the university conducted focus groups with BAEC and La CASA on future planning for the affinity spaces, and later at the beginning of this quarter talked to students in the centers about the new building, according to Koberl.
Staff included in the move began packing up their belongings on Monday, June 16, Koberl wrote over email. The university will provide boxes, while facilities will help move furniture and Information Technology Services (ITS) will transfer monitors and keyboards.
“A place of convenience”
Building 52’s history of housing the centers dates back to the rebranding of BAEC in 2012 when the center moved from the University Union into the building, and the establishment of La CASA more than two years ago.
Mariana Perez, a comparative ethnic studies junior, finds the move to be ill-timed during the surge of anti-DEI rhetoric from the Trump administration. While these centers and programs are not going away, Perez feels like they are being pushed aside.
Perez uses the affinity spaces such as La CASA and BAEC for studying from time to time. She said she will continue to go to these centers in the new building.
“I would rather go out of my way to be in an environment and space that I feel comfortable in rather than find a place of convenience,” Perez said.
Building 15 is located on the corner of N. Perimeter Road and Safety Way and will serve as a new hub beginning next fall quarter under Student Affairs — and near it, a new Student Success Center to come in 2027. Cal Poly Partners will now operate from the Mustang Business Park, an off-campus university building.
Update: This article was updated on July 21 to elaborate on some of the accommodations within each space, as well as the university’s planning process.
