The African American Cultural Center will now be open Saturday as planned despite an announcement by University officials earlier this week that the center would be closed.
The AACC has been a meeting point for students who protested the purple and gold Confederate flag the last two weekends.
Katrice Albert, vice provost for equity and diversity, said at a meeting Thursday the staff of the AACC and the Office of Multicultural Affairs agreed to keep the AACC open Saturday.
Albert also said some faculty have agreed to help staff the building.
The AACC-sponsored alumni tailgate is still canceled, but the building will be open for use during the day, she said.
Collins Phillips, leader of the Student Equality Commission, the group organizing the protests, said he is happy the building will be open but is still disappointed the tailgate is canceled.
Albert said the decision to keep the building open speaks highly of the staff’s commitment to students.
“You must applaud their work, time, heart and passion for the college student development process,” she said.
Westley Bayas, a leader in the equality commission, said he thinks the decision to leave the building open was a result of the negative response about the closure from the student body and Student Government.
The SG Student Senate passed a resolution Wednesday night that urged the chancellor to reopen because Tiger Day – the recruitment event held this weekend – is important for recruiting minority students.
“Students were very disappointed that their second home on campus was going to be closed on Homecoming day,” Phillips said. “I don’t know where their judgment was when they made that decision.”
Albert said LSUPD plans to escort students if they hold a protest march against the purple and gold Confederate flag on Saturday.
Phillips said rumors that students found on AACC property when the center was scheduled to be closed could be arrested were never confirmed by LSUPD Chief Ricky Adams.
“The word ‘arrest’ never came out of the mouth of Chief Ricky Adams,” Phillips said. “The police department had no intentions of arresting anybody.”
Adams told The Daily Reveille on Tuesday that LSUPD had no plans to arrest students.
Bayas said the equality commission will no longer meet in front of the Union at 12 p.m. Tailgating will be held at the AACC as previously planned, starting at 2 p.m.
 
Contact Ginger Gibson at [email protected]