Situated in a newly constructed Digital Intellectual Commons on the first floor of the library, the Richard Wright Center for Writing, Rhetoric, and Research is enviable. The promise of innovation is visible in the design and reflected in the names of each area of the Commons. Writing itself seems central here at Jackson State University (JSU), a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). JSU is an Apple Distinguished School recognized for innovation in teaching and learning. Yet in the writing center, writers find themselves caught between the promise of twenty-first-century innovation and vestiges of nineteenth-century pedagogy in current-traditional practices, a conflict on campus that seems to pivot on two interrelated issues: varied definitions of writing and disparate teaching approaches. In this article, the authors discuss the writing center and the need for a writing program grounded in translingual practices, led by a person trained in the field of rhetoric and composition. The authors discuss changing the definition of writing and offering support for those who use writing in their teaching.