UT Student Government approved a referendum on Tuesday to create a new center in the William C. Powers, Jr. Student Activities Center in place of the Multicultural Engagement Center. 

The Center shut down on Jan. 1 due to Senate Bill 17. A new center would be housed in the Division for Campus and Community Engagement, which would appoint a student committee to further develop the center.

The referendum will be held alongside campus-wide elections on Feb. 26 and 27. Students can vote at utexasvote.org.

Members of the SG Executive Board introduced the referendum days after the agencies previously within the MEC released a joint Instagram statement demanding the center be reestablished with student input. If approved, a new center would occupy the same space and be a student resource, but it would not be an “MEC 2.0,” UTSG Vice President William Ramirez said.

“What we’re doing is reimagining the usage of that space,” Ramirez said. “In doing so, we’re trying to support tangentially the MEC campaign that has been hosted by the five agencies that were formerly housed in.”

If a new center is approved, it would receive the funding the Student Services Budget Committee already allocated to the MEC, according to the legislation. Additionally, former MEC employees would staff the new center if they elect to return.

After input from the DCCE and the Division of Student Affairs on initial drafts of the referendum, the structure of a new center in the WCP remains intentionally vague, Chief of Staff Christian Mira said. 

“Because this is a student-centered initiative, having it solidified at this stage would also solidify it for future generations of students,” Mira said. “It’s been altered so that future student leaders can advocate for their needs during their time periods.”