On July 1, Utah House Bill 261, also known as the “Equal Opportunity Initiatives,” officially took effect, radically changing the ways in which universities around the state are allowed to support marginalized students.

In response to the legislation, the university closed a number of identity-based resource/cultural centers for students. Shuttered centers include the Black Cultural Center, Native American Cultural Center, Hispanic & Latino Cultural Center, Pan-Asian Cultural Center, Pasifika Cultural Center, Dream Center and the Women’s Center.

Earlier this month, some students and faculty members were moved to hold a “funeral procession” recognizing the centers that were closed (and the services that went away as a result).

Brandon Flores, the Student Success Center’s executive director, understands the feelings of loss that have been felt in the wake of the closings. However, he also believes that the new center can be an incredible asset to students of all backgrounds.

“I definitely validate and see where the students are coming from. There is definitely a sense of loss on campus,” Flores told the Standard-Examiner. “But what I like to say is doors close all the time. Opportunities may not always exist. But, with this change, other doors have opened and new opportunities have come forward.”

The Student Success Center — located at WSU’s Student Services Center, Rooms 150 and 160 — offers everything from academic coaching, advising and mentoring to assistance with more basic needs like food and places to hang out, play games and socialize.

The center’s ultimate goal, though, is in its name.

“To retain more students, to help students persist towards reaching their academic and personal goals and to graduate and lead successful lives beyond that graduation,” Flores said of the Student Success Center’s mission.

“We really want every student who we come in contact with, who graces our area, to feel supported, to feel a sense of belonging, but also to feel like they can thrive here at Weber State University and beyond.”

The center’s navigational academic advisors operate at a scope beyond that of traditional academic advisors in some respects, helping students to understand the general policies and procedures of campus life that can be overwhelming to some.

“The Navigational Advising Team can provide that comprehensive support to help students connect with campus and community resources, offer some of that professional advising in the sense of helping them overcome their personal and academic barriers, improve their academic performance and succeed in completing their degree,” Flores said.

To that end, the center employs a data-based approach to identify specific demographics of students that could potentially benefit from its services, using tools including the school’s early alert and retention platform, Starfish.

Meanwhile, the center’s Student Engagement Team works to promote meaningful connections on campus via social/educational activities and cultural enrichment in addition to helping students achieve their academic goals.

Toni Nakai, a junior at WSU, is a student employee at the Student Success Center who has also benefited from the services it offers.

“One of the things that I utilize the most, especially still as an employee, is that the Student Success Center offers food to students who are in need,” Nakai said. “I’m a first-generation student; I struggle sometimes to get food. So, it’s such a great resource.”

Nakai also spotlighted the center’s advisors, as well as the space that it provides to various clubs for meetings and activities, noting that she uses “basically almost every single resource” the center offers.

While she, too, feels the loss of the shuttered cultural centers as a Navajo student, Nakai appreciates the inclusive atmosphere that’s fostered at the Student Success Center.

“I feel like it’s easy for me to get connected with people that — before, yes, more so within my own ethnicity — but also I get to see so many other more cultures within the center, and get to reach out to many other students,” she said. “I think it’s a great connection spot.”

For more information on WSU’s Student Success Center, go to https://www.weber.edu/student-success-center/.