Multi-cultural resource center supports diversity on campus

New and improved MRC works on outreach and support services

Oberlin may be viewed by the outside world as a progressive mecca at which students of every ethnic background, sexual orientation and income bracket can gather together in harmony, but staff members at the Multicultural Resource Center (MRC) feel that the diversity of the College presents many of the same challenges a multicultural resource office at any university would face, and then some.

"There will always be a different perception of Oberlin for those outside and inside the College," Assistant Dean of Student Life and Services Julia Nieves said. "Honestly, Oberlin's not that different from other universities. Oberlin's not perfect, it's not a utopia, and part of the frustration comes when we hold it up as such. We forget we're part of a larger social context."

Staff members of the recently-revamped MRC include Associate Dean of Student Life and Services Ken Holmes and Assistant Deans Nieves and Shilpa Dave, as well as four community coordinators who work specifically with Africana, Latino, Asian American and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) students.

"The four community coordinators in the MRC are sort of student advocates that let administrators know what students need, what issues they're dealing with, what assistance they would like," Latino Community Coordinator Adrian Bautista said.

MRC workers believe they are providing a strong and stable support system for the diverse communities within the College, encouraging students to embrace their individual heritage while getting to know people in other communities.

"We're not experts on multiculturalism either. We're all still educating ourselves and each other on these issues. It's an incredible learning process," Shim said.

Formerly known as the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA), the MRC was revamped in the Fall of 1995 by former Dean of Student Life and Services Charlene Cole-Newkirk.

Cole-Newkirk increased the administrative support system of MRC, expanding it to include Holmes, Nieves and DavŽ. She clarified the positions of the four community coordinators and convinced the College to increase its funding to the MRC. Cole-Newkirk also facilitated the MRC's migration from Daub House to Stevenson and, as of last year, to its current home in Wilder Student Union.

"I have to give Charlene some credit because the MRC is part of the legacy she'll leave behind. If you can leave and something is still going strong, you know you were successful," Nieves said.

Currently in its second year of structured operation, the MRC now works directly with about one-third of Oberlin's student body, according to Bautista's estimates. According to Bautista, the four groups with whom community coordinators work comprise at least that much of the campus population.

"Keepin' it Real": Carmen Mitchell, Michelle Shim and Kara Wick, community coordinators at the MRC, share a laugh at the MRC office. In the retention study of African-American students, 28 percent of respondents said that they had used the MRC. (photo by Heidi Johansen)