What is the Center for Multicultural Affairs?
• The mission of the Center for Multicultural Affairs is to provide leadership and direction for the assessment and improvement of college-wide efforts to create and sustain a more diverse and inclusive community of learners; to work collaboratively with other college units to build a capacity to recognize and value difference, encourage and support positive interactions between and among diverse populations, and maximize the benefits for a multicultural perspective; and to advise the Dean of Students and university leadership on programs, practices and resources needed to achieve excellence equity and effectiveness in the teaching and learning and outreach activities of the college.

Who are involved?

Organizations that are encompassed by the Center for Multicultural Affairs include:

· Campus Activities Board (CAB)
The Randolph-Macon College Campus Activities Board (CAB) provides campus activities and programs for the R-MC community. The board is composed of freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors who represent the student body. Board members select bands and guest speakers to bring to campus and much more!

· Black Cultural Society (BCS)
The BCS serves as an avenue for its members to learn and teach others about black culture. The BCS promotes cultural awareness with in the Randolph-Macon community by providing activities that showcase the culture of black people. The BCS also serves as a social network for its member and as a link to the community outside of Randolph-Macon.

· Brothers For Change (B4C)
The goal for the Brothers for Change is to make a positive difference on the college campus and the outside community through community service and the promotion of diversity.

· Ujima Gospel Choir
The Ujima Gospel Choir is a multicultural organization that adheres to Christian principles as outlined in the Bible. The Gospel Choir’s purpose is to draw others near closer to the Lord through worship and praise, educate in the various styles of Gospel music, and promote unity throughout the Randolph-Macon and Ashland communities. Ujima performs concerts and cultural programs at Randolph-Macon and for the Community.

What do we do?

Some programs include but are not exclusive to:

· Inclusive Community Building Workshops
A series of incremental, participatory activities that empower individuals of all ages and backgrounds to take leadership in building inclusive communities in school and the workplace.

· Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration
Annual campus-wide program to honor the memory and principles of a great human being.

· Diversity/Social Justice Program
Programs providing awareness and information to discourage oppressive behavior.

· Safe Zone Allies Training
Information sessions addressing hetero sexism, hate behavior, and resources to support GLBTQ faculty, staff, and students. Culmination of the program results in participants being able to display a Yellow Jacket ALLY sticker.

· Black Heritage Programs
Programs designed to celebrate the heritage of the African Diaspora.

· Building Bridges (Study Circle) Discussion Group
A Study Circle is a small, democratic discussion group that creates a cooperative and safe environment in which people can express their views. Study Circles provide an opportunity to explore assumptions and values that underlie long held beliefs and stereotypes about race. Participants can try on new ideas and understand views of those who are racially or ethnically different, while also coming to a better understanding of themselves. (Co-Sponsored with the Center for Counseling and Career Planning)

This Year’s Main Events

· On September 14, 2007 at 6:00 p.m. students filed into the Campus Center to enjoy the entertaining music of Latin American band, Solazo. The group hailing from Chile, Argentina and Ecuador are making their sixth U.S. tour. Solazo delivers a unique blend of Latin folk, contemporary dance music and soulful ballads that appeal to all ages and cultures. Layered with Cuban rhythms and spiked with the unusual flavors of Andean sounds (panpipe, charango and mandolin), their authentic and artful arrangements move fluidly from flamenco to mambo within the course of a single song. There were a slew of interested audience members, some inspired to clap their hands and stomp their feet to a rhythm that allowed them to escape Ashland, and feel, for a moment in time, the beauty and diversity in Latin-American music and culture.

· On October 18, 2007 a renowned, Chinese paper-cutting artist and writer Prof. Hongyi He came to the campus center to share with students a display of her original art, Chinese music, a hands-on demonstration, and a lecture about Chinese paper-cutting art. Prof. Hongyi He’s art has won many awards including: the China Paper-Cut Nobility and Excellence Award in the year of 2003 and the Gold Medal at the 2000 First China Folk fortune Art Festival in Nanjing, China. Her artwork is exhibited in museums throughout the world in the U.S. China, Japan, and Taiwan. It was truly an educational and mind-opening event, and at the end of the program each student was given the opportunity to come forth and try to make a paper-cut art work. Listening to Prof. Hongyi He speaking Chinese, and sharing such a priceless piece of her culture, history, and art was simply unforgettable.

Phone: (804) 752-4715
Fax: (804) 752-3211
E-mail: akeitt@rmc.edu

Last Updated - 11/07/07

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