Multicultural Programs

The Office of Multicultural Programs facilitates the engagement of differences in a comprehensive manner that allows students, faculty and staff to learn from one another and to recognize the diversity of perspectives, experiences and cultures that exist within the University community, the surrounding community and the nation.

We aim to enhance multicultural competencies across campus by providing the University community with broad opportunities for cross-cultural engagement and dialogue. This is crucial to the success of the entire student body in our increasingly global environment.

We offer a broad range of curricular and co-curricular programming that provides opportunities to engage by creating avenues for dialogue and by fostering beneficial interactions among the University community.

Programs and Services

You're invited to stop by our office any time to hang out, watch TV or use our printer. We can help you navigate the sometimes-confusing needs associated with being a college student. Come learn how we can connect you with other caring staff, faculty and students across campus.

Multicultural Education Week

Held each semester, Multicultural Education Week is designed to celebrate diverse backgrounds and spark conversations around important topics. Highlights include featured speakers, panel discussions, coffee houses and a closing festival.
 

Inclusive Reading Club

The Inclusive Reading Club engages the Salve community in exploring issues of diversity and multiculturalism through short readings and discussions. By coming together every month in a safe and inclusive environment, participants are challenged to develop a greater understanding and appreciation of differing identities, cultures and communities.

Cultural Competency Development Workshops

We offer various cultural competency development workshops that can be tailored to your available time, audience and program needs. For more information, or to schedule a cultural competency development workshop, email sami.nassim@salve.edu.

Multicultural Leadership Retreat

The Multicultural Leadership Retreat is a weekend event for up to 50 students who want to enhance and hone their skills as leaders by learning more about culturally competent leadership. Students accomplish the goals of building leadership skills and advancing cultural competency through self-knowledge activities, group discussions and team-building exercises.

"I Believe I Can" Mentorship Program

Offered to all first-year students, this informal mentorship program helps to guide students through their transition to the Salve community. Participants have the opportunity to meet successful student leaders who can provide them with social and academic mentorship and guidance.

Living Learning Community

Students live in an inclusive community dedicated to promoting the understanding of difference, celebrating diversity and purposefully sharing unique experiences with the rest of the campus community. Residents participate in structured, educational discussions and enjoy exclusive programming specifically designed to engage their individual interests. By connecting educational and residential environments, students interact with faculty, staff and other students in a practical learning environment outside the traditional classroom context.

About Us

The Office of Multicultural Programs strives to create an educational enterprise that values multiculturalism, where the value of diversity is not only acknowledged but also actively pursued and celebrated through every fiber of the University community. We foster a campus climate that moves beyond the basic concept of being civil toward those who are different to being engaged with those differences.

We aim to create a campus culture that recognizes, appreciates and values the cultural and ethnic backgrounds, religious beliefs, sexual orientations, economic statuses, abilities (both physical and mental), political beliefs and ideologies of those who comprise our campus and surrounding communities.

The Office of Multicultural Programs recognizes that diversity is more than a demographic measurement – it is also an essential source of experiences that enrich learning through a series of engaging and in-depth interactions. All members of the University community have something to teach and something to learn from one another. We aim to emphasize Salve's commitment to integrate the learning potential of a diverse campus with the core mission of the institution.

This commitment compels us to foster an environment that encourages all members of the University community to develop and practice intercultural skills in their personal, professional and academic pursuits. Beyond creating a welcoming environment, it is our responsibility to provide students, faculty and staff with opportunities to explore and contribute to our diverse community, built on the principles of respecting and valuing differences.

We will be successful when the Salve community views diversity not as a way to differentiate between us, but as the way in which we collaborate and interact to pursue the highest ideals of the human experience in the spirit of the mercy tradition – creating a world that is harmonious, just and merciful.