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This Space Is Yours

Hispanic Community April 2022 PREMIUM
A Campaign for Student-initiated Programming at KJCC, New York University

Written by Rebecca Portnoy, Director of Communications for Arts & Sciences at NYU

The King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, known as KJCC, has its institutional home in Arts & Science at New York University.

Over the last 25 years, the Center has created a vibrant, layered, inclusive space (both physically and online) to which it welcomes both the NYU community and the larger public. A wealth of free programming spans the cultures, histories, geographies, and languages of the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking worlds. It includes educational and entertaining lecture and film series, exhibits, and performances.     

For its 25th anniversary year, the Center is running a campaign aimed at the constituency at the heart of its activities: NYU students. Undergraduate and graduate students come to the Center for the community, cultural nourishment, academic support, and opportunities for leadership and networking. Students hold seats on KJCC’s Advisory Board, and get valuable experience in year-long internships, where they lead the development of new and engaging programming.

This Space Is Yours will create a dedicated fund to ensure the future of programs created by students, for students.

KJCC’s Director, Jordana Mendelson, said: “Throughout its history, KJCC’s scope and offerings have evolved along with scholarship about linguistic and cultural identities. That evolution is a response to students’ changing concerns and interests and it means that now the perfect time for our This Space Is Yours campaign, which will encourage an ever-greater number of NYU students to experience the KJCC space as their own.”

Fall of 2021 saw the launch of just such a student-run, student-focused effort. Fridays on the Patio brings students to KJCC’s tranquil courtyard to socialize over activities and snacks.

Devon, an NYU undergraduate, said: “Fridays on the Patio have been a place for me to relax every week, connect with my classmates outside of class, and to meet graduate students that I otherwise would not have met. I have loved having a place to talk about my Spanish and Portuguese major, and express my passions outside of a classroom context. Having this cultural space has made my interests even stronger to me, and introduced me to friends that I will have throughout my college career. KJCC has given me and other Spanish/Latinx and heritage students a place that is open to all, but that we find each other in.”

To donate to KJCC’s This Space Is Yours campaign, visit https://www.givecampus.com/campaigns/25897/donations/new?designation=kingjuancarlosiofspaincenter& 

 

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