Founded in 1973, the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs (MSA) aims to promote academic success and advocacy through its open doors and numerous resources.
“The Office of Multicultural Student Affairs is a team of five full-time staff and a variety of graduate and student staff dedicated to helping students build self-efficacy, resilience, and community with those around them,” MSA Director Jordan Brooks said.
One of MSA’s most valuable resources for empowering ISU students academically is its scholarships.
“We offer a variety of scholarships ranging from full-tuition scholarships to professional development funding, and even some financial emergency support,” Brooks said.
Vanessa Rivas-Peña, a third-year business management major and a front desk employee at MSA, spoke about how the scholarships have impacted her life as a student.
“If I didn’t join MSA and I didn’t apply to the First Cyclone [Scholarship], the chances I would be in college right now are slim,” Rivas-Peña said. “I would not have been able to afford college if I didn’t have MSA.”
Once you receive a scholarship through MSA, you are assigned a peer mentor who keeps you on track with the scholarship requirements.
“I had to take some hard classes, and I did bad on my first exam,” Rivas-Peña said. “I went to my peer mentor, and I said, ‘I’ve never done this bad on an exam. What can I do?’ She showed me how to contact a tutor, and then they showed me how to study better […]. My next exam was a lot better. I probably would have dropped out of college because those classes were required for my degree. Having MSA to fall back onto … it’s a nice place to be.”
However, contacting MSA about tutoring is not limited to scholarship students. It is a free resource to all students on campus, among many other easily accessible resources.
“We are open doors,” Amanda Beckett, a senior majoring in Psychology and an AVP Intern at MSA, said. “One can get involved simply by coming to our office space on the third floor [room 3320] of the Memorial Union. Our staff is friendly and approachable when it comes to questions. I’d have to say, just show up and interact with the space. It’s available to all students.”
The Office of Multicultural Student Affairs has a computer lab and many study spaces open to all, accompanied by snacks, coffee and more. These spaces are welcome to every Cyclone student to socialize, study and connect with others. Other resources include a printer free of charge and a multi-purpose room available to Iowa State student organizations, staff, faculty, and departments to reserve for events, meetings and more.
“MSA also manages The Center, the Multicultural Center, both located in the Memorial Union and the George A. Jackson Black Cultural Center on Welch Ave,” Brooks said. “These student cultural center spaces are meant for students and student organizations to host programs and connect with others.”
MSA also offers the Academic Program of Excellence. APEX is a three-week summer experience for incoming students that fosters college readiness. APEX aims to support students through many learning experiences that focus on community building, career readiness, academic success and more. Once classes begin, APEX students are offered a variety of programs to promote professional and academic growth while at Iowa State.
“I look at MSA like a build-a-bear,” Beckett said. “You can pick and choose out of a pool of resources and cultivate the college experience you aspire to have. We do all of this while recognizing and valuing unique contributions and experiences of each individual.”
For Beckett, what began as a scholarship through MSA led to becoming a senior peer educator and, ultimately, an MSA AVP intern.
“MSA is one of the miracles in my life,” Beckett said. “It is a full-circle moment for me. Having the opportunity to go back into a setting that has poured into me throughout my full duration of college, I’m grateful.”
For both Rivas-Peña and Beckett, MSA has been a home to them and a place they can always go to feel seen and heard.
“When I was first applying to Iowa State, all of my other friends weren’t first-generation students,” Rivas-Peña said. “Their parents went to Iowa State, and they had legacy scholarships. I was lost; I didn’t know what to do. When I saw I could join a program where we were all first-generation students experiencing college for the first time, I knew I wanted to be with people who won’t judge me and understand how I’m feeling.”
Through a welcoming, accepting, and uplifting environment, MSA’s resources not only offer financial support but also emotional and social support from others who have been in a similar position and will extend open arms to anyone looking for help.
“I chose to work with MSA because I have always had the heart posture of providing others with the resources they need to succeed,” Beckett said.
Any student at Iowa State can walk into the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs and know everyone in the office has your best interests at heart.
“I deeply value community and service to humanity, and serving in this capacity is a daily opportunity to live out those values,” Brooks said. “Supporting students from their orientation to walking across the graduation stage, sometimes multiple times, is truly why I am in Student Affairs.”
To learn more about The Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, scholarships, funding, and other resources, click here. To hear about future public social events, check out their Instagram page.