January 17, 2020
The Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground was featured in BU Today’s article “At New Howard Thurman Center, Building Community Remains the Goal.” Associate Provost and Dean of Students Kenn Elmore and students who frequent the center (“HTC regulars”) shared their thoughts on the expanded location, which opens this month.
“My heart is here with this space just because it’s quirky, but I do feel that with the new center, the Howard Thurman Center is finally getting the attention that it deserves,” said Nneka Oyigbo (CAS’20), who visits the HTC almost daily.
Kenneth Elmore (Wheelock’87), associate provost and dean of students, predicts that skeptical students will quickly discover that intimacy does not depend on the design of a space, but on those who use it. “Intimacy and coziness are created by people,” he says, and at the old HTC, “people made that cozy.…It’s the generosity and the hospitality that we have.”
To any student who is worried about losing those, Elmore says: “Come and create it then. You created it over there; you can create it here. This is the space you deserve for intimacy.”
Read the full article here.