History

The Office of Multicultural Development was established in 1991. The first office was located on the second floor of McIntosh Center and was staffed by a director and a student worker. The office developed and implemented programs and services both co-curricular and extracurricular. One of the highlights was the People in Celebration of Diversity series. In this series there was a different topic addressed each month and a program presented on that topic. Some of the programs were presented in partnership with academic departments and actually took place in the classroom. Other programs were co-sponsored by student organizations and presented in formats that were open to the entire campus. Throughout the years, there have been changes in personnel and location of the office, but the mission has remained the same. The Office of Multicultural Development seeks to lead the campus community in a celebration of diversity through academic and social programming. The other main purpose is to support the activities of various student organizations, including the Black Law Student Association, Black Student Union, Latino Student Union, Muslim Student Association, Open Doors and World Student Organization.

The first Multicultural Center was established in fall of 1995 in a small house located on South Union Street. The center housed an office for the director of multicultural development, one for the director of international recruitment and a secretary. There was a multi-purpose space used for student meetings and social gatherings. In fall of 2004 the center moved one door down on Union Street to a larger space.