Office of Multicultural Affairs works to refine role on campus

Students hope that when Theresa Martinez becomes Columbia’s first dean of community development this November, she will close what they feel to be a gap between them and the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

“I would say that … they are a behind the scenes organization,” Felicia Bishop, CC ’12 said, speaking to this perceived chasm. “They do so much but there is this disconnect between the people who run it and the general student body.”

OMA formed in 2005 with an aim to create safe spaces for all students to explore aspects of their identities with one another and to ensure that those aspects were represented and supported on campus.

In 2007—just two years after OMA formed—hate crimes shocked Columbia’s campus, delivering the office its first major conflict.

“We’re in a much different place than we were three years ago,” said Melinda Aquino, the senior assistant dean of multicultural affairs and interim associate dean of student affairs.
Dean of Student Affairs Kevin Shollenberger agreed, adding, “There’s been a lot of transition … a lot of good transition.”

Now, the OMA is attempting to develop its goals in face of and despite obstacles such as hate crimes, culminating in the recent creation of the dean of community development position.
And it was concerns such as Bishop’s that fed significantly into Martinez’s appointment.

“It was really the next phase in continuing our development,” Shollenberger said, also emphasizing that increasing partnership is crucial to the OMA’s philosophy and success.

Yet as a relatively young office, the OMA has yet to realize its full potential.

“No matter where we go, it has to be about continuing relations with other offices and students,” Aquino said.

Presently, the OMA takes a three-tiered approach toward their programming. The first tier is “intra-community,” which aims to provide support services to underrepresented groups on campus. Next, “inter-community” programs, such as the Intercultural Resources Center or Alternative Spring Break, give students the opportunity to connect with new perspectives. Lastly, the “community advancement” branch aims to integrate conversations and emphasize shared cultural responsibility.

A key common component of each tier is dialogue.

“As our campus becomes more diverse, there’s going to be conflict,” Shollenberger said, adding that conversation is the way to grow in light of this friction.

“What does it mean to have people in our lives who are different from us?” Shollenberger asked, highlighting one of the questions at the core of the OMA. “We have a unique opportunity here at Columbia to have these conversations,” he said.

But just as Shollenberger emphasized the unique diversity of Columbia’s student body and faculty, both he and Aquino highlighted the importance of recognizing the tendency for umbrella terms such as “diversity” or “multiculturalism” to become overused.

Since the start of the OMA, the staff, as well as students involved, has tried to “rethink what an OMA can do on a university campus,” Aquino said. Part of their job, Aquino added, is to create an office “where people will freely experience that it’s not what they think it is.”

Not all students feel the OMA is living up to its own expectations, let alone those of the community.

“The OMA doesn’t do its job,” said Rajat Roy, SEAS ’10 and a University senator, who recently wrote a Spectator column critiquing multicultural groups on campus. “OMA right now is essentially the OCA, an Office of Cultural Affairs, as they do not insist that cultural groups work together.”

Countering viewpoints like Roy’s, Aquino noted that the participation of students and interest in the OMA has increased, “though it may have meant a few extra hours here and there,” Aquino joked.

“They are invested and they’re actually part of the community,” Shollenberger said. “We often say we spend more time with each other than we do our partners and spouses. I feel like I’m always having to tell people, ‘Go home! Take a vacation.’”

“There’s a lot of laughing in the OMA, but we’re also the people who will challenge you,” Aquino said. “Because of that, we’re able to really appreciate each other that much more.”