University of Idaho’s Center fills gap after DEI closures

Before the development of the Black and African American Cultural Center, the dropout rate at the University of Idaho for Black students was almost 75% according to Mario Pile, the inaugural director of BAACC before it was shut down.

The BAACC was an important place for Black students to have community. Without having the BAACC to meet at or the staff to help facilitate community, there is worry that Black students’ mental health will suffer.

In December , the University of Idaho announced that the diversity, equity and inclusion programs were closing. This was due to a vote by the Idaho State Board of Education and has led to many clubs and organizations trying to find new places to meet and new areas of support that they no longer receive from the university. The Center, located on campus, is a place that students can hold events and receive financial support from. Students impacted by the closing of DEI offices can look to the Center for temporary or even permanent support so that their groups can keep thriving.

“The way we operate, we support student organizations who want to hold events that are either religious or non religious type functions,” George Fricks, director of the Center said.

The Center is a space for ecumenical ministry whose mission is to minister to students, both in faith and helping to be drivers of community. They work to meet student needs through things like the food pantry and the kitchen where students can make their own meals. They host such events as weekly movie nights, writing club meetings and recovery meetings through their partnership with the Latah Recovery Center .

The Center, previously known as the Campus Christian Center, has been around since 1930. It was originally a private house that wasn’t on campus but was used for students to gather and discuss philosophy and life, topics that matter outside of academics. Eventually the property became the Idaho Institute of Christian Education.

“So it was actually our building, which was then still a house where St. Augustine’s Catholic Center and the LDS Institute formed the religious studies department on campus. So we were private properties, but classes were held here. And up until 2009 at some point it shifted the religious studies program and moved to campus,” said Karla Neumann Smiley, Lutheran Campus Ministry’s minister said.

The current building was erected in the 1950s and the campus eventually grew around the Center. Today it is conveniently located on campus for students to drop in to study, hang out and more. And they have partnered with the Moscow Food Co-op.

Max Silva is a sophomore at the University of Idaho, studying virtual technology and design. She is also the president of the Sexual Orientation Gender Identity Association. SOGI-A was started in the fall of 2024. Their mission is to educate everyone on the Palouse and beyond about queer history and being an activist.

SOGI-A’s adviser, Lysa Salsbury, was director of the Women’s Center before it also was closed. That space is still open for them to meet but is less convenient. This is because Salsbury can’t attend meetings as easily as in the Women’s Center when her office was just down the hall. The Women’s Center also used to help SOGI-A with putting on events.

Silva has been to the Center on multiple occasions and has found it really welcoming. With SOGI-A’s events already planned for this semester, Silva is interested in looking to see how the Center could help the club put on events for next semester.

Pile is the associate director of Student Involvement, trying to focus on leadership and mentorship. He created and brought the BAACC to life in 2022. Pile said there was a lot of frustration from students with the BAACC closing because it seemed like the State Board of Education never visited or talked to students.

“There’s not spaces for Black students and finally, there’s one, finally there’s one staff who’s here for us, and then it’s just a kind of taking the rug from underneath you kind of feeling,” Pile said.

Pile sees a great importance in the BAACC because it’s a place for Black students to meet with each other and have community. The BAACC was never segregation, and Pile described it as joyful and inclusive for all students. He believes that what drives his relationships with students is only because he is Black, but he’s also willing to listen and willing to use his resources to help them.

“Universities across the United States don’t understand that even if you have counseling services, even if you have mental health departments, if no one there is Black, students of color, Black students, are not going to feel comfortable talking to just white therapists about their struggles on campus,” Pile said.

Students who found community at the BAACC and are a part of the Black Student Union have been working to find different ways and places to meet now that the BAACC is gone. Pile believes that it is beneficial for Black students to have another space for community because the only places they really had were their homes or the BAACC.

“What I tell my students is my job is to help you get to graduation, but get through to graduation with your mental health intact. And I would say spaces like mine allow students to graduate with greater GPAs because their mental health is intact,” Pile said.

In the past, the BAACC has partnered with the Center to put on events. Pile said that those events were mildly attended because he himself was not present. This is the difficulty with Pile’s job changing, as well as having to move locations for these students to have a community where they don’t regularly see Pile. As they have been trying to hold on to the community created through the BAACC, students have been trying out different locations like Terracotta Moscow.

“I do think the Center could be a potential option, and I would love to (continue),” Pile said.

With the closing of the DEI offices, finding new arrangements for clubs and communities to still gather has been chaotic. Many of these organizations are finding that the Center is a space where they can have space and receive support.

This story was written in partnership with FāVS News, a nonprofit newsroom covering faith and values in the Inland Northwest.