OMEA History
The origins of the Office of Multicultural Enrichment and Advocacy stretch back through the decades with ties to the civil rights movement. Through various names, iterations, and locations, the office has always maintained a posture of support for marginalized students with services that have evolved along with the needs of the students.
Civil Rights Movement and Early Decades
The national sentiment during the mid-1960’s related to needed improvements in civil rights for Black Americans caused MSU to examine its posture on the recruitment and retention of Black students. As larger numbers of Black students enrolled at MSU in the late 1960’s, it became evident that more comprehensive efforts were needed to retain these students and to ensure their academic success. The problems these students were experiencing indicted that the “traditional” approach used for all students was not sufficient.
Before the decade was over, a variety of concerns from Black students were levied toward University administration, including the low number of Black faculty/staff employed at the University and few opportunities for participation in governance, decision-making and employment.
In the fall of 1968 and winter of 1969, the student affairs staff met with Black students to specifically discuss ways of increasing minority staff in housing positions. A proposal for a Black student Aide program was developed by the director of Residence Hall Programs and approved by the group. Dr. Milton Dickerson, Vice President for Student Affairs, approved funding for 24 Black student Aides in the spring of 1969. As a result of the program’s growth, the Coordinated Minority Student Programs Office (CMSPO) was created from which the Aide program was coordinated and implemented.
One of the major points of difficulty for Black students was in their residential environment. As minorities, these students often experienced feelings of isolation, loneliness and alienation that frequently obscured their academic and career goals. Overt racist acts directed at them were additional obstacles to their success. The idea of culture rooms were to be the center of a proposal to formulate a base of Black Culture on the MSU Campus. One culture room was founded in each hall, with the planning and cooperation of then Residence Life Director Gary North, Carl Taylor and financial support through Robert Underwood, then manager of Residence Halls, along with student input and involvement. The first Black Culture Room, located in Shaw Hall, was established in September 1969.
In 1972, the program was expanded to include Chicano/Latino and Native American students and its name was changed to the Minority Aide Program, leading into expansion for the 1980s.
Evolving and Expanding Progress
Enrollment for various communities of color continued to rise through the 1980s. By the spring of 1987, Vice President for Student Affairs and Services, Dr. Moses Turner, expanded the Minority Aide Program to include the Asian Pacific American student population. Implementation of the APA Aides began that fall. In 1987, APA students were given space in the basement of Holden Hall, which they named the Asian Pacific American Heritage Room. Starting with little more than a few chairs and a couple of tables from storage, APA students used this room for various student organization meetings, especially the Asian Pacific American Student Organization (APASO)--In spring 2008, the APA Heritage Room was changed to the Vincent Chin Memorial Room.
A Native American Heritage Room was established in the basement of Hubbard Hall and the Centro de la Raza for CRU was created in the basement of Wilson Hall. There are caucus rooms throughout the residence hall system, initially used for and continue to be used as: libraries, places for social and academic activities, and as performing arts meeting places.
In May 1989, Black student leaders on campus held a “Study-In,” taking over the John Hannah Administration building for ten (10) days, as a demonstration of a peaceful protest to the University’s lack of response or attention to racial-ethnic student concerns and issues. Several of the students who participated in this Study-In were aides from all the various racial ethnic student communities.
After several days of negotiations, the Black student leaders who served as the spokespersons, Darius Peyton, Ray Hearn, and Jeffrey Robinson, were successful in getting MSU administrators to address several long-held concerns that Black students had endured for several years, which included: increased number of Black faculty and staff, increased services and programs targeted at Black student retention, and the changing of CMSPO’s name to the Office of Minority Student Affairs.
In addition and as an included demand, they advocated for requiring that the administration hold similar discussions with each of the three other racial-ethnic student communities: Asian/Pacific American students, Chicano/Latino students, and Native American students.
In the Spring of 1993, Assistant Provost, Dr. Lee June, worked with Chicano/Latino, Asian Pacific American and Native American faculty/staff and students to further expand the number of Minority Aides for those respective communities. By 1999, a total of 61 Minority Aides were servicing all of these racial-ethnic communities.
New Visions for a New Millenium
In July of 2001, the Office of Minority Student Affairs was renamed the Office of Racial Ethnic Student Affairs (ORESA) to more accurately reflect the mission of the office and the need for clarity regarding students served. Aides were renamed Racial Ethnic Student Aides in the 2001-2002 year. In December 2006, the office name was changed to the Office of Cultural & Academic Transitions (OCAT).
For the 2011-2012 academic school year, the Intercultural Aide Program was established to provide assistance to students of color needing help with social adjustment and academic progress and to provide a communication linkage between students of color, residence hall personnel and other student service offices.
Into the 2020s, a major commitment of the Intercultural Aide Program staff remained to help students in planning cultural, social and academic programs. Because people from all walks of life are assigned to live together in residence halls, Intercultural Aides have the opportunity to facilitate a total living/learning experience for everyone involved.
In 2025, the office rebranded once again for good reason. As the Office of Multicultural Enrichment and Advocacy (OMEA), the unit has moved into the historic MSU Multicultural Center to serve in a managerial role for the new facility. While many things have changed over the decades, what will always remain an important mission for the office is to support marginalized students. Just as has been done for over fifty years, the unit always adapt to meet the modern needs of students.