Weber State University students hold ‘funeral procession’ for shuttered cultural centers
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- A casket was carried around the Weber State University campus as part of a “funeral procession” recognizing the closure of multiple cultural centers on Dec. 4, 2024.
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- A casket was carried around the Weber State University campus as part of a “funeral procession” recognizing the closure of multiple cultural centers on Dec. 4, 2024.
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- Ogden School Board member Stacy Bernal speaks at a “funeral” for shuttered cultural centers at Weber State University on Dec. 4, 2024.
OGDEN — Tears were shed, heartfelt speeches given and a dirge sung Wednesday at Weber State University as students, faculty and concerned citizens said their final goodbyes to several on-campus cultural centers that were shuttered earlier this year.
Students Aligned For Equity, or SAFE — a student-led group promoting inclusion, equity and community at WSU — held a funeral procession for the centers, which were closed after H.B. 261, also known as the “Equal Opportunity Initiatives,” went into effect July 1.
“The funeral procession is a way for us to mourn the loss of our cultural centers,” SAFE’s Jordan Marshall explained in an email to the Standard-Examiner prior to the event.
“They were safe spaces for our communities. These centers were places where we could be ourselves and talk openly about any struggles that we may have. But now, with them gone, we are losing a part of what made us feel supported and understood.”
In recognition of the loss of those spaces, students carried a casket adorned with the WSU banner around campus and through buildings where cultural centers once existed. Flowers were also placed at those sites.
The procession originated at the Louis F. Moench statue and moved through the Student Services Center and Shepherd Union building before reaching its endpoint near the Stewart Bell Tower.
At that point, eulogies were given for the Black Cultural Center, Women’s Center, LGBTQ+ Resource Center, Native American Cultural Center, Hispanic & Latino Cultural Center, Pan-Asian Cultural Center and Pasifika Cultural Center. The Nontraditional Student Center was also recognized.
Following the eulogies, several WSU students voiced concerns about a lack of services for marginalized students, and criticisms were levied at state legislators and also the university.
Ogden School Board member Stacy Bernal, former Ogden planning commissioner Angel Castillo and Betty Sawyer of the NAACP Ogden branch also spoke, lamenting the closure of cultural centers and advocating for affected students.
“I’m here to tell you, do not give up hope,” Bernal said. “Do not give up hope. We are not going to go quietly. … Keep up the good work and know that you’re not alone and that we have power together.”
Sawyer said, “Let’s be clear — if our school was as inviting and as welcoming, as diverse and equal as we claim it is, there would have never been a need for any of these centers. … These centers offered the same kind of support and safe place as a fraternity house, a sorority house, an honors dorm; all of those things do the same thing.”
Bryan Magaña, WSU’s public relations director, explained to the Standard-Examiner via email that, had they remained open, cultural centers would not have operated under H.B. 261 in the same way they did previously.
“Even if Weber State hadn’t closed those centers, big changes were inevitable. When you know change is on the horizon, it makes sense to ask whether there’s another way forward, or even a better way,” he said. “Weber State has been around for 135 years, so we’ve gotten pretty good at navigating change and coming back stronger.”
Magaña praised the work being done at the new Student Success Center, calling it a hub for students seeking academic, professional and personal assistance.
“One benefit of the cultural centers was a sense of belonging, yes, but the ultimate goal was access and retention — welcoming students to Weber and seeing them through to graduation. That work continues, and I think the coming months and years will prove the hard work is paying off, even though the approach is different,” Magaña said.
As Marshall and some other students see it, though, important educational and life resources have been lost.
“The Student Success Center that aims to replace any cultural service does not, and never will, provide the same type of support that the cultural centers would’ve offered,” Marshall said. “Due to H.B. 261’s restrictions requiring full neutrality, I can’t have the same conversations with my advisors at the Student Success Center versus what could’ve been at the potential Hispanic or Black cultural centers. With these separate centers, they know you, they understand what personal or racial struggles you may be going through, because they’ve dealt with the same struggles.”
