Resource Centers Reunited
current paths to accessibility for the Women's Resource Center
The Women's Resource Center's long-awaited move into SMSU article and photos by Hanna Anderson After a lengthy process of requests to the Space Allocation Committee, the Women’s Resource Center has been approved to move into the Smith Memorial Student Union. The Women’s Resource Center, otherwise known as the WRC, has faced numerous problems with their current location in the basement of Montgomery building. It has stood out as one of only a couple of student resource centers not housed in the Student Union. However, in their last meeting in November 2018, Portland State’s Space Allocation Committee (SAC) approved the WRC’s request to move into the student union. The WRC will replace the Quiet Study lounge on the fourth floor of Smith to sit alongside other spaces like the Queer Resource Center, Veterans Resource Center, and the Resource Center for Students with Children. In February, legislation was introduced to ASPSU Senate to halt the WRC move to save the Quiet Study lounge. But without a motion to move the legislation to a vote, the resolution failed. In their meeting summary, SAC wrote of their decision: “WRC’s current allocation creates significant wayfinding, security, confidentiality, and accessibility challenges, which negatively impacts
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WRC operations and students. The allocation would place the WRC in a more visible location on campus, the WRC would be adjacent to...associate student resource centers, [and] individuals with mobility devices would have direct access to SMSU elevators.” Erica Bestpitch, the director of the WRC, believes the move to the Student Union will help the WRC serve more students, work with the other student centers, and ultimately give the WRC a “stronger presence in our community.” “The Women's Resource Center is a student resource center, and we wanted to be in proximity to all of our sibling centers,” Bestpitch explained. “Because we are really the only student resource center not housed in Smith, we have also noticed wayfinding has been a challenge for many. Often times, students, faculty and administrators who have been at PSU for a long time will have never set foot in the WRC. Because we are so far off the beaten path that some can forget to include our space in tours of campus.” One of the primary reasons for the move, Bestpitch explained, is accessibility. For able-bodied students, accessing the WRC is as easy as walking down the stairs that leads directly to their front
door. For those who cannot walk down the stairs, their website has a page set aside with instructions for how to enter their space: “Enter through the main door to the Montgomery Building and take the elevator down to the basement. Once in the basement follow the sign forward and turn left. Follow the hallway down and take another left. This places you at the back of our department by our bathroom and kitchen. Enter through the back door.” But even this winding pathway doesn’t ensure access. “Montgomery is a historic building and their elevators are not big enough to ensure access for all kinds of mobility devices,” Bestpitch explained. “We have been really concerned for the past several years that our service to students has not been equitable because there are students who can not physically access our location.” “The process of finding a new location on campus and then securing that location has been a long one.” said Bestpitch, “It has definitely taken perseverance and patience, and the participation and support of many on-campus colleagues, the mobilization of student voices, and the support of administration to make the WRC accessible to all students on campus.”
