Welcome!
We’re so glad you have visited us here at the “OMD,” on our home webpage
My name is David Sungwoo Cho, aka “Dr Cho,” a proud child of Korean immigrants in the early 1970s, born and raised in Chicago, my hometown. I later grew up in the “Western Suburbs” of Chicago, right around Wheaton College. I was formerly a tenured English professor and director of American Ethnic Studies at my last academic stop (thus the nickname, “Dr Cho”) having been in higher education since 1996, the author of a book of poems, another book analyzing over a hundred years of Korean American novels and their narrative patterns, with more books forthcoming.
More importantly, I am married to Sandy, since 1997, have two children in college, one in high school. I currently have the great privilege and honor to serve as “Director of the OMD,” here at Wheaton College, since June 2019. And what a great journey it has been, to join an incredibly gifted and talented staff, student leaders, and student body. Enough about me, let me introduce you to the office.
If you are ever able come and visit us at the OMD, you’ll immediately realize that community is at the heart of who we are. In other words, you, and students like yourself, are at the heart of this office.
From our welcome desk, to the ever-present snacks on the tables, to the various dedicated spaces (meeting room, study area, computer section, decompression area with massage chairs, large-screen tv area, piano, and more), the entire physical space is dedicated to serving as a home and resource for students of color and any student interested and committed to being part of a Christ-centered community focused on diversity, social justice, and race-ethnic identity.
Your story—your joys, fears, struggles, and more—and our collective lives and stories, are all at the heart of our office. Our office space, programs, support, and advocacy are all devoted to the students, with a focus on Christ-centered diversity and community. This means there will be times of deep study, time on the massage chair, family-style meetings around a table, and hearty conversations on issues of race, ethnicity, racial identity development and antiracism, along with routine discussions of the basketball GOAT, the latest songs, YouTube videos, Instagram, Tik-Tok posts, and more.
We host a number of student organizations: our 1-2-1 mentoring program, the Gospel Choir, Koinonia (Asian/Asian American student org.), Shalom (multicultural residence home), Summit Scholars (multicultural scholarship program), Unidad (Latinx student org.), and the William Osborne Society (Black student org.), programming events like our Christmas and Spring Banquets, along with our staff working with campus offices and programs like Admissions, the offices of the Chaplain, Counseling, Intercultural Engagement, Title IX, Residence Life, and more, to provide the best support of your years here at Wheaton.
And there’s so much more! But I will stop here, in the hopes we can meet or talk to you in-person. Please peruse the rest of this website, visit us in person--or if that is not possible, email us back at multicultural.development@wheaton.edu, or let’s set-up a video-conference call. All to say, welcome to the OMD. Let’s be in touch and as so many of my friends say, let’s talk-story, a Hawaiian phrase for sharing about our life journeys.
Blessings,
David S. Cho,
aka “Dr Cho” (by the students)