MMC Unveils New Campus Intercultural Center

Dear MMC Community:

I’m thrilled to announce the opening of the College’s new Intercultural Center. The IC will be integral to supporting and sustaining our collective efforts to cultivate an authentically diverse and inclusive campus environment by providing a wide array of resources, programming, and experiences focused on community building, social support, and social justice competency. The IC will be led by a new full-time Director (position to be posted by July 6, 2021) and Fanny He, Assistant Director of Student Activities and Inclusivity Programming.

Located in Carson Hall 412, where the Multi-Faith Center has historically been located, the Intercultural Center will serve as a space of safety and empowerment for students from systemically minoritized groups across intersecting identities, including race, ethnicity, nationality/geographic origin, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, socioeconomic status, faith, creed, ability, and age. The IC will continue to provide a dedicated prayer room and programming related to religion and spirituality as vital elements of culture.

The creation of the new Intercultural Center has been the result of imaginative planning and hard work by many of our colleagues over the past twelve months. I’d like to extend gratitude to the IC Development Team for all that they’ve done to bring the IC into being:

• Dayne Hutchinson, Assistant Dean and Director of Student Development and Activities;
• Emmalyn Yamrick, Associate Vice President for Student Success and Engagement/Dean of Students;
• Fanny He, Assistant Director of Student Activities and Inclusivity Programming;
• Rebecca Mattis-Pinard, Chief Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Officer; and
• Todd Heilman, Vice President for Student Success and Engagement.

A special thank-you goes to the Communications Team, particularly Carly Schneider, Assistant Director of Communications, for creative support. I also want to thank Dr. Carol L. Jackson, former Vice President for Student Affairs, who was an early champion of establishing an IC at the College. Finally, I gratefully acknowledge MMC alumnus and trustee Edward Van Saders ’95 and his husband, Paul Shusterman, for their generous leadership gift, which helped make the dream of an Intercultural Center a reality.

At the start of the Fall 2021 semester, the MMC community will be invited to a variety of grand opening events. In the meantime, I invite you to visit the Intercultural Center webpage to learn more and to stop by the Center’s beautifully remodeled space in Carson Hall 412 when you’re next on campus.

The new Intercultural Center is a significant and exciting manifestation of the College’s ongoing commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion at MMC. As a campus community, we are holding ourselves accountable by putting words into action, and we are laying the foundation for transformational community-building. I thank all of you for your partnership in this endeavor.

Sincerely,

Kerry Walk, Ph.D.

President