ALYSSA BUMP
Editor in Chief
On the second floor of the Williams Center, there lies several intercultural resources that are constantly adapting to the needs of SUNY Fredonia’s student body.
The Intercultural Center (IC) is essentially “a hub for programming that collaborates with various offices and community members with a focus on diversity and inclusivity,” according to Khristian King, executive director of Student Engagement and Inclusion at SUNY Fredonia.
King has worked with IC for six years. When she first came to Fredonia and started as interim director, IC was known as the Center for Multicultural Affairs (CMA).
CMA used to focus on supporting six student groups that aligned with the center’s mission, but they have since changed the name and focus of the center to expand more diverse intercultural resources to students.
“Students really wanted to expand on what they knew of multiculturalism, and it was important for me to change the language to intercultural [for the inclusion of] international folks,” said King.
The grant at the time did not allow for CMA to support more than six groups, so King and others working with IC rewrote the grant to include more intercultural campus clubs when she moved from interim director to director.
IC has now doubled the number of student groups they support, with 13 intercultural student groups currently under IC. These groups include the African Student Union, Black Student Union (BSU), Blue Ice Step Team, Brother 2 Brother, Caribbean Student Association (CSA), Chinese Students & Scholars Association, Enfusion, Fredonia Feminists, Hillel, International Club, Japanese Club, Latinos Unidos (LU), Native American Student Union and Pride Alliance.
The clubs associated with IC have to complete a few requirements before the collaboration is set in place. The main requirement is that these groups align with IC’s mission of “seek[ing] to enhance the student experience by cultivating an inclusive community, on and off campus, through support and collaboration with campus constituents, while providing students with the skill sets needed to excel and make a difference,” according to IC’s website.
King said, “We specifically work with the e-board members [of these student groups]. There’s two required training [sessions] for all of the groups. We do one before the fall semester and one usually right when the spring semester starts.”
Two of the biggest collaborations between IC and the intercultural student groups are Multicultural Weekend and Culture Fest.
Multicultural Weekend is an annual spring program meant for existing students of Fredonia to participate in, as well as accepted students to travel to the college and get involved with the festivities. Multicultural Weekend has recurring events like El Carnaval hosted by CSA and LU, which includes games, prizes, music, food and performances. The BSU Fashion Show is also an impressive presentation of BIPOC brilliance and excellence with the incorporation of fashion, prizes, vendors and music during Multicultural Weekend.
Culture Fest is an annual fall program meant to kick off International Education Week and celebrate the diverse cultures within SUNY Fredonia’s campus. Last year’s events included student performances, arts and crafts, games, raffles and ethnic food.
Besides collaborating with student groups, IC collaborates with a variety of other campus services and offices. These offices include Multicultural Support Services (MSS), Veterans Affair Office, Volunteer & Community Services, Counseling Center, Admissions and more.
IC partners with the Counseling Center for “Let’s Talk,” which is an informal introduction to counseling services on campus. “It isn’t clinical counseling, but it’s more of an appetizer for getting support and getting help when you just want to talk [to someone],” said King.
Alongside student engagement, IC aims to inform and educate the campus community. Their website, www.fredonia.edu/student-life/intercultural-center, is a huge resource for students that can be accessed without even stepping foot into the IC office in the Williams Center.
FREDpride is a relatively new page that gives students access to LGBTQ+ resources on campus, as well as locally, regionally and nationally. “[Students] wanted to see something where they could look up [information] quickly. So we support that page and we also have a Cultural Information Index,” said King.
According to the Cultural Information Index webpage, the goal of the index is to “increase awareness of the diverse groups we have on campus. It is intended for members of the Fredonia campus community, and those outside the community, to build knowledge about cultural diversity.”
King said that the Cultural Information Index was produced in collaboration with multiple offices, such as Reed Library and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Council, for students who are new to diverse and inclusive language. “Not only can you find the term, you can then find a link to a website that will give you more more information,” said King.
There is also a Tranquility Room, which was created in collaboration with International Student Services (ISS), that is meant to provide a space for students to practice meditation or prayer. “The great thing about the Tranquility Room is that if students sign up to reserve it, if it is after hours, we give them swipe access,” said King.
The Tranquility Room is located in Thompson Hall, room W110, within the ISS suite of offices, and reservations for the room can be made using the link provided on IC’s website.
Crowned Rubies, a program crafted specifically for women of color, and Kings’ Corner, a new group designed for men of color, are two programs that exist through IC to support BIPOC students.
Multiple internship positions and two scholarships are offered through IC. The two scholarships offered are the Keeper of the Dream scholarship, which is a recurring scholarship for first year students, and the Rosa Parks scholarship competition, which is a scholarship opportunity for all enrolled students.
“Rosa Parks is a one-time scholarship … It is a social justice scholarship competition where students can pick any area of social justice and they can discuss it in any way, shape or form. We had one winner that created a Black Lives Matter painting and another student who wrote a poem called ‘Honey Nut Cheerios’ which was about what it is like to be an Asian student at a predominately white institution (PWI) … It was so beautifully written,” said King.
As for becoming an IC intern, the office accepts a wide variety of different majors as interns. “We have had criminal justice majors, art majors, business majors … we can adjust the internship to align with the major,” said King.
King recommends that students get involved with IC through the intercultural student groups. “We do a lot of collaborative programming [with them] and they are your peers. Culture Fest is a great way to learn about us, which normally occurs in November,” said King.
She also recommends that students utilize IC’s website, as the bottom of the main page has upcoming events listed, and a variety of information is provided just through a click of a button on the side panel.
“I think there is a misconception sometimes when people hear ‘intercultural,’ they might assume [IC] is only for POC or LGBTQ+ and that’s not the case. We work with all students,” said King.
She continued, “The biggest benefit of working with our office is that it gets you connected with staff that can be of help and support in various ways … IC can be what you make it.”
For more updates from IC, follow their social media accounts on Instagram, @fredonia_ic, Twitter, @FredoniaIC, and Facebook, @fredoniaic.