The University of North Texas will have a ceremony to mark the reopening of its renovated Multicultural Center at 11 a.m. today in the University Union courtyard.

The center was founded in 1993 and was renovated over the summer to enhance its ability to serve the needs of a diverse population, officials said.

“We’re definitely becoming more diverse every year. We have more students who don’t identify with just one race” or religion, said Uyen Tran, director of organizational development for the center. “People are becoming more willing to talk about differences in [sexual] orientation, religion and ethnicity.”

Because of the university’s growth, Tran said, the Multicultural Center needed to have a wider range of services for the student body.

“In addition to remodeling our space, we have expanded our mission and vision,” she said. “We have added in that we’re going to do more education towards interface, disability and sexual orientation, in addition to what we already did with race, ethnicity and gender.”

Cynthia Izaguirre, a UNT alumna and co-anchor of News 8 Daybreak on WFAA-TV (Channel 8), will be the event’s keynote speaker. She said the center provides a way for students to learn and teach.

“It’s an opportunity for people to gather together in a different way and learn about each other,” she said.

Izaguirre said that extending the center’s services to a broader range of students demonstrates the diversity of the student population in a greater way than before.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the richness and culture at the University of North Texas,” she said. “It’s always been a melting pot there, particularly at the Union.”

For Izaguirre, the center gives students perspective on the world and a new understanding of people.

While a UNT student, she said, she became friends with a woman from a Muslim background and gained understanding of Islam.

UNT President Lane Rawlins also will speak before the Multicultural Center, located in Room 218 of the Union, is opened for tours at 12:15 p.m.

The center offers, on average, 80 events a year, some with attendance as high as 350 people, Tran said, in addition to the resources offered to students daily.

A student lounge area, computers and an ethnic studies library are available to visitors. In addition, staff members offer advice to approximately 20 student organizations with the aim to get people more involved in causes they are passionate about, Tran said.