Students, faculty and staff gathered in the University Union Ballroom to celebrate the grand opening of the Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) Center on Sept. 10.

The event theme was “Celebrating Many Cultures, Many Voices and One Home,” to commemorate SWANA community members who have chosen Sac State as their home.

Attendees were served a lunch of SWANA-inspired food catered by Sac State’s own Epicure. Cultural performances from different countries in SWANA were showcased during the celebration.

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Traditional Iranian music filled the room from Iranian percussionist Nariman Assadi, accompanied by a Sufi dancer, whose dreamlike spinning and whirling movements mesmerized the crowd. Afterward, the Watani Dabke dance troupe performed dabke, a folk dance popular among Lebanese, Jordanian, Palestinian and Syrian communities that is widely performed for joyous occasions.

Attendees could interact with local SWANA community vendors and resources or admire various displays of traditional clothing throughout the room.

Senior psychology major, Caspian Woodward, described the ceremony as ‘beautiful’ for its detail-oriented programming.

“I think it’s awesome,” said Woodward. “I know that historically, this community has been erased or not well represented. If there was ever a good time for it, now is a good time for it.”

Students dressed up for the occasion, sporting their best abayas or thobes to honor their heritage at the event. President Luke Wood wore a traditional Palestinian keffiyeh in his opening speech.

Dr. Marcellene Watson-Derbigny, Associate Vice President Student Retention & Academic Success, said the SWANA center had been in the works for about 10 months.

“This was driven by the students giving voice to the need for a center, a place of belonging and a place where they feel connection,” Watson-Derbigny said. “We know that everything starts with a belief in the realization of good things. When we imagine and when we dream, we can realize our dreams.”

The SWANA center will offer culturally relevant counseling, mentorship opportunities, faculty advising, professional development series, cultural workshops, guest speakers and informational programs for those who are interested in learning about the region.

Aniesha Mitchell, Vice President of Student Affairs, said the SWANA center is the first of its kind in the CSU system.

“The SWANA Center is a symbol of our dedication to creating spaces where every student feels seen and heard and where their unique cultural heritage is honored and celebrated,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell emphasized the center’s role as a hub for opportunity and innovation that nurtures future SWANA leaders.

“We are not simply holding space for lounging. We are cultivating a space that thrives on inclusivity, respect and empowerment,” Mitchell said.

Zoya Altabaa, a student member of the ceremony’s planning committee, and a junior double major in political science journalism and information systems management, said that the SWANA center represented a first step in showing the truth of the region’s culture.

“We are not just countries with war and destruction and pain,” Altabaa said. “We are more, far more than that. We’re full of culture, full of happiness and love that we want to spread around campus.”

Before the SWANA center, political science professor Sahar Razavi had been running the Iran and Middle Eastern Studies Center (IMESC) out of her office for years. Razavi said she has been advocating for the creation of a center to accommodate SWANA students, especially for Palestinian students dealing with the current situation in Gaza.

“They need to feel that they have a home on campus,” Razavi said. “That they are fully integrated into our campus community and supported.”

Razavi said she chose the acronym ‘SWANA’ over the commonly used term ‘MENA’ (Middle East and North Africa) in the naming of the center to include other identities in the region who may not identify as Arab and to avoid historically orientalist terminology.

Razavi praised the resilience of Muslim and SWANA students in pushing for the creation of the center and acknowledged the former Students For Justice in Palestine president, now Sac State alumna, Farah Al-Masri for her vocal advocacy of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Veronica Boulous, Sac State alumna, said her experiences visiting Razavi’s office were a wake up call that SWANA students needed a space of their own.

“It was really SJP, and Muslim and SWANA students on our campus that stepped up,” Boulos said. “They said: ‘Hey, this is something we want to do. We’re going to commit to it,’ and they committed to it.”

Boulous said she passed an ASI Resolution for the SWANA Center with help from Razavi, ASI President Nataly Andrade-Dominguez and other Muslim and SWANA students.

The new SWANA center is located in room 1012 of the Academic Information Resource Center. Office hours will be announced later in the semester.