Office of Multicultural Affairs- A Campus Resource

     I met with a staff member from the Office of Multicultural Affairs at BGSU to learn more about the programs and services they offer to help African American students.  The office works collaboratively to help students succeed in college, and to create experiences that will enhance students' time at BGSU by introducing them to diversity, cultural programs, academic support and social integration. 
   The mission of the Office of Multicultural Affairs is to promote and offer a welcoming, socially just and inclusive campus community by supporting the retention of diverse student populations, providing diversity education and multicultural programs for students, faculty staff and the surrounding community. 
    The office offers one-on-one advising in areas such as academics, transition from high school to college, and social integration into the campus culture.  Their motto is "When in doubt, reach out!"
     The office offers two courses related to multicultural affairs.  UNIV 1510- Multicultural Program focuses on diverse team building to support targeted populations with developing academic success strategies, understanding their cultural identity and respecting identities different from their own, developing global consciousness, learning to deal with bias, and learning to build teams and allies by finding commonalities among differences.  UNIV 1200-Learning-Behavior Assessments is designed to make students better learners.
     The office offers multicultural programming to broaden one's perspective of about ethnic and cultural diversity.  A few programs specifically geared toward African American students include the Black Issues Conference and Black History Month.  Both of these events are co-sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Black Student Union.  The Black Issues Conference includes programming to address issues that affect the African-American community.  The theme of the conference changes each year and the conferncce is organized by students with assistance from the Office of Multicultural Affairs.  Black History Month is a nationally recognized month-long celebration of black culture.      
     The Office of Multicultural Affairs also holds Diversity Education Workshops and Monthly Diversity Dialogues.  In addition, they partner with the Office of Residence Life to train Diversity Peer Educators.  Student volunteers participate in this program to develop leadership, presentation, and public speaking skills.  The students then conduct workshops that contribute to enhancing interpersonal relationships with students of all backgrounds in the residence halls and throughout campus.