The Center for Black Studies has moved into its new location.

The new building is located just south of its previous location on the 700 block of West Lincoln Hwy. The old building, which stood on Lot 15, south of the Founders Memorial Library, was razed in December to make way for a parking garage. The center was housed temporarily in the Kishwaukee House while construction took place.

Van Anthony Amos, program coordinator for student and cultural programming at the Center for Black Studies, said he was very excited about the move and welcomed everybody to use the new facility.

“We invite any group or organization that needs a place to hold its meetings to use (the new building),” he said.

He said some of the organizations that were once housed at the old building wouldn’t be able to be accommodated in the new building, since it has only nine rooms, as opposed to the 16 the old building had.

Still, although there are a smaller amount of rooms, the new building is actually larger in size, Amos said.

The Center for Black Studies is an academic and research center which offers undergraduate courses related to African and African-American experiences. In addition, the center collects and analyzes data on minorities and encourages several minority student professional organizations in order to stimulate students’ professional and career interests.

Some of the organizations working out of the Center for Black Studies include the NAACP, the Black Student Union, the Black Graduate Student Association, the Black Choir and Lifeline.

Although the center is geared towards minorities, Amos encouraged all students to use the center and what it has to offer.

“There are several interdisciplinary courses offered by the center that I encourage all students to take,” he said. Examples of such courses are IDSP 200, Racism in American Culture, IDSP 211, Educating for Cultural Sensitivity and IDSP 219, Introduction to African Studies.

The new building cost $387,000 to build and was financed from revenue bond refinancing.

“We invite any group or organization that needs a place to hold its meetings to use (the new building).”

Van Anthony Amos, Center for Black Studies program coordinator