The University of Southern Indianaโs Multicultural Center is celebrating a big birthday this weekend.
The festivities Oct. 25-27 will โhighlight and celebrate those changes that have occurred throughout the years,โ says Pamela Hopson, the first person hired as director in 1994. Itโs a three-day-long event dedicated to connecting current students with alumni and community members through performances, dinners, campus tours, and more.
It’s a weekend that she hopes will connect current students with alumni and the broader community.
โIt was important because some alumni have reached out wanting to come back to campus,โ says Hopson, who has worked at USI for 45 years and currently serves as the universityโs interim vice president of student affairs. โWe live in a very busy time where it is difficult to carve out time for the things that are dear to you.โ
When expanding its reach throughout the country, USI officials saw a need for greater multicultural competency on campus. Hopson says the centerโs goal was to be a resource for all students, especially those who struggle to find a sense of belonging. She chaired a committee that recommended to then-President David Rice services the Multicultural Center could provide.
Those services started with a mentoring program. The center also celebrated Black and Hispanic history months and provided diversity training for students and employees. Hopson made sure to connect alumni with students to share their experiences of life after college. In 1997, offerings in a resource section in USIโs David L. Rice Library were expanded.
At the time, โwe found very few books in the main library written by diverse authors,โ Hopson reflects.
In 1998, the center contributed to the creation of the USI Eagle Creed, setting expectations for โhow we interact with one another with respect and civility,โ Hopson says. It also started a student gospel choir called Designed by Grace.
Thirty years later, the Multicultural Center has grown from one employee to 5 full-time personnel, increasing its ability to provide support and services to USI students. The center still offers diversity workshops and operates the resource library in University Center East. In the spirit of collaboration, it also advises Greek organizations, clubs โ including the Authentically Me Natural Hair Club โ and student unions for African, Black, Asian, South Asian, and Hispanic students. Scholarships sponsored by the center give students more opportunities on campus.
That said, โWe donโt profess to have the answers for all of our students,โ Hopson says.
The center puts on multiple events throughout the year as well, first welcoming students to campus with a reception at the start of the academic year. The annual Essense of Excellence Summit focuses on networking, workshops, and a keynote speaker addressing topics relevant to underrepresented students. The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Celebration, which started in 1995, features a keynote speaker โ such as businesswoman Connie Robinson in 2002 and the cityโs longtime Human Rights Commission Director Diane Clemens Boyd in 2005 โ and gathers community members to recognize Kingโs work and push the conversation of equality forward. Throughout the year, the center hosts dining with the deans for students to get to know the leaders of different academic departments. At yearโs end, an awards reception recognizes studentsโ academic accomplishments.
โWe host these events because it is a proven fact that if students can get connected on campus, it increases the chance of success,โ Hopson says.
Thereโs a lot to celebrate in one weekend โ a celebration designed for students, alumni, and the broader community. It starts Friday night with a welcome mixer before the annual USI Live at the Apollo, in which students display their talents in music, dance, and performance. Saturdayโs calendar includes a cookout with yard games, followed by campus tours, and an evening cocktail hour and celebration dinner. A Sunday brunch concludes the weekend.
Hopson believes that alumni may want to keep the event going in the future. Registration has mostly closed, but there are still a few opportunities to participate.
Hopson hopes students use the weekend to reflect on the fact that they are โstanding on the shoulders of individuals who came before themโ and their ability to โleave campus in a better place than [they] found it.โ
โWe want to keep the Multicultural Center at the front of peopleโs minds as a resource for underserved students,โ she adds.