Clayton Rosa
Staff Reporter
Tucked away in the basement of Rouzer, across the Minute Maid vending machine, is an office that houses one interim director, one secretary, and four part-time student workers.
The Office of Multicultural Services (OMS) has been in transition since Ms. Zephia Bryant, now Director of the Multicultural Center at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), left McDaniel College.
Bryant worked as the Director of Multicultural Services for six years. During her time here, she helped increase diversity and awareness on campus through a variety of programs, including the Sankofa Mentoring Program, the Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration, Multicultural Student Weekend, and Diversity Week, as well as support for umbrella organizations like Black Student Union, Hispano-Latino Alliance, and the Women’s Issues Group.
“It was a very pivotal time for me,” says Bryant regarding her time at McDaniel. “McDaniel helped me learn the underpinnings of the institution.” Bryant applauded McDaniel’s commitment to diversity “but over time came challenges” as available resources dwindled.
“When I began, there was myself and a graduate assistant, with time an additional graduate assistant came and a part-time administrative support person ? then a full-time one.” Bryant says that it is essential for OMS to provide different services for the campus community.
“There is only so much that one person can do,” she said in regards to the lack of full-time staff members in OMS. Nonetheless, many faculty and staff members committed to the office and to supporting the students. “But when faculty and staff are pulled in other directions, you lose critical people that normally support these efforts,” she stated.
Bryant conveyed that, “there is a large contingent of students who may have not seen OMS as a resource for them and then there are faculty members who may not have realized the relevance of OMS to their curriculum or department.”
The challenge, according to Bryant, is getting everyone on campus ? students, staff, and faculty ? to understand that OMS is relevant for everyone and, therefore, can be a tool for everyone.
There are currently increased efforts underway to widen the scope and visibility of OMS. One of the initiatives is a Campus Diversity Council composed of students, faculty, staff, and administrators, and will serve as an advisory board for the incoming Director of OMS, an office that will be renamed to the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs (ODMA).
Bryant commends the creation of the council in that, “diversity has to be institutionalized and systemic. The council can look at diversity across campus.” Bryant continues, “But hopefully the council will not only be tasked with making recommendations but implementing them as well.”
Dr. Debora Johnson-Ross, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, is the chair for the search committee and confirmed that there are over seventy applicants for the position. Application reviews begin March 16, 2009 and will continue until the position is filled.
Bryant praises McDaniel for strongly examining diversity on campus. She concluded, “I challenge the institution to look critically at diversity and moving the efforts forward.”