The spring semester
brought a litany of challenges to our campus and higher education across our
nation. Besides challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, our country
is also facing an issue that has been an ongoing problem in the United States:
social injustice and racial tensions.
The Center for Multicultural Student
Leadership and Engagement (MCSLE) is posed to address those issues head-on
through continued programming and student-centered discussion.
During the 2019–20
school year, MCSLE developed two series of programs to open discussion around
social inequities directly: Building Bridges and Breaking the Barrier. These
two programs will be ongoing throughout the summer and during the regular
school year, considering students’ needs and suggestions from our campus
partners.
Building Bridges aims to provide a space for Black and Brown students
to receive support, express concerns, and connect with other students.
Breaking
the Barrier is designed to facilitate dialogue among all students
interested in learning about and from groups with varying interests and needs,
as well as advancing positive social change.
Theo Turner, director of MCSLE,
said, “MCSLE is proud to offer these programs and to lead the way
towards supporting IUP as an anti-racist campus community. We want to offer our
support across the university for initiatives that may align with our direct
programming goals to bring all interested parties within IUP into the fold.
Speaking to this, MCSLE would like to encourage all areas of the university to
reach out to us with your ideas regarding collaboration, topics, resources,
speakers, and activities/events.” Anyone who has a suggestion, comment, or idea
is encouraged to reach out to Theo Turner via email at tturn@iup.edu.
The Center for
Multicultural Student Leadership and Engagement will continue offering Building
Bridges and Breaking the Barrier events on alternative weeks throughout the
summer. We invite all
students, staff, and faculty to join in the conversations. Please look for more
information on specific events via the Central Calendar and MCSLE’s social
media sites. MCSLE will provide a list of upcoming events throughout the
summer to help interested parties who wish to participate plan
appropriately. In the meantime, look for more information about the
next event, coming up on Wednesday, July 8, at 7:30 p.m.