The Office of Multicultural Development (OMD) began at Wheaton College during the 1970s.[i] Since then, the department has gone through a series of changes and transitions, including multiple names: Office of Minority Affairs, Office of Minority Student Development, Office of Multicultural Student Development. But through the years, the OMD has remained committed to being a home for students of color, a safe space, a resource to provide tools for students of color and all students who want to learn more about Christ-centered diversity, and an encouragement to the College to cultivate Christian unity that values and celebrates ethnic and cultural diversity.
In 2013, a new space for the OMD was created on the lower level of the Beamer Center, to serve as a place of hospitality where students can stop by to study, relax, grab a snack or cup of coffee. A safe space to talk freely, reflect on current events, and process one’s identity, as it relates to race, ethnicity and culture, and/or identities, given the rich intersections and interwoven layers of racial identities, ethnicities, and cultures. The OMD is a place to interact with people of diverse backgrounds and together work through questions of what it means to live as the people of God.
After the passing of Rodney Sisco, the long-time “Director of the OMD,” the OMD continues to live out this mission as a home for the multiracial Wheaton College community, building on its foundational legacy. The student organizations and cabinets (1-2-1, Gospel Choir, Koinonia, Shalom, Summit Scholars, Unidad, the William Osborne Society), programming events (Ignite, Synergy, Christmas and Spring Banquets, and more), and the racialized ethnic minority community and relationships remain at the heart of this office. Similarly, relationships with campus departments, offices, and programs like Admissions, Athletics, and the ISP (International Student Programs), the offices of the Chaplain, Conservatory, Counseling, Intercultural Engagement, Title IX, Residence Life, and more, continue to deepen in time together, brainstorming, problem solving, and collaboration. In 2019, a “Common Curriculum*” was developed as an internal and external resource, to help provide a biblical vision of “Kingdom Diversity,” issues of “Faith and Race,” historical snapshots of race relations in the United States, racial identity development, and works of antiracism.*
Likewise, the OMD physical space has continued to grow as a reflection of its Mission, Values, and Student Learning Outcomes (outlined next). This would include a multipurpose space in the main area—moveable community-study tables and chairs, updated computers (Macs), large screen TV for social gatherings, presentations, and important news/media events, a piano, and the Rodney Sisco Multicultural Resources Library (aquarium, bookshelves, and fireplace); a decompression area with two massage chairs and lounge furniture, and a growing collection of memorial art; a Graduate Assistant office; and in the Hannay Conference Room, moveable desks, chairs, and more markerboard space, including moveable markerboards to be used anywhere in the OMD.
All of the ongoings in the OMD, its history, purpose, programs, and physical space reflect and revolve around the activities of supporting, developing, and advocating for a deep experiential understanding of the imago dei of and for our students, including their racial identity and intersectional identities, in their pursuit of racial justice whenever and wherever called, as disciples of Christ.
*Guided by the Board of Trustees-approved Christ-Centered Statement of Diversity (July 16, 2019; https://www.wheaton.edu/life-at-wheaton/kingdom-diversity/diversity-commitment/), and the OMD Common Curriculum, on Schoology
[i] Need to insert names of previous directors in this footnote