By KHAMIA CARTER, NEWS3 Reporter
MACOMB, Illinois (NEWS3) — Western Illinois University’s Multicultural Center offers multiple resources and opportunities for students of different ethnicities and backgrounds.
The Multicultural Center is a home away from home for students at WIU. It includes the LGBTQ+Resource Center, Gwendolyn Brooks Culture Center, the Women’s Center and Casa Latina Culture Center.
“It was about 10 years ago when the Gwendolyn Brooks Culture Center and the Multicultural combined into one center,” said program coordinator Carl Irvin.
Irvin described how the centers provide lots of options for students of different ethnicities, backgrounds and cultural orientations to come together, feel supported, grow and learn from each other.
“One of the big things we provide is jobs, financial assistance and financial aid is a big hurdle for a lot of students’ success, so we provide ambassadorships which are student employment jobs,” Irvin said. “We also provide assistance with advising and student organizations.”
Irvin spoke about how the Multicultural Center can be a place where students can come and relax and it also offers possible job opportunities.
“We have about 24 student organizations under our umbrella, so we provide assistance to them,” Irvin said. “And also the programming we do is directed towards our students, it can be financial aid, literacy workshops, it could be getting cultural exploration and support, it could be even things like how to relax.”
The MCC can be a place for students to turn when needing support and motivation.
“The mission is student retention and success, our goal is to make sure our students feel comfortable, feel supported and that they graduate,” Irvin said. “We’re all about diversity and inclusion.”
The center’s hours of operation are Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
Go to wiu.edu/student_services/mcc to contact the WIU Multicultural Center.
