What is the MRC?
The mission of the center is to support the needs and concerns of students who have been historically disenfranchised from higher education—students of color, LGBT students, and first generation, low-income students. To that end, the MRC has become a dynamic hub that supports, connects, and educates student organizations, college offices, academic departments and programs, alumni, and community members and organizations. Whether you are looking for more information, resources, collaborative partners, or just a great place to hang out and meet people, we hope you'll make the MRC your first stop. 

Who is welcome at the MRC?
The MRC is for EVERYONE who is committed to working together to build a stronger and more socially just community at Oberlin College. 

Does the MRC reach out to allies?
The MRC does a lot of work to reach out to, educate, support, and collaborate with allies. The support of allies is often crucial to the success of many of our efforts. The MRC is currently undertaking a number of new initiatives around supporting existing allies and identifying and educating new allies. Among these initiatives is the development of an Ally 101 Training that will be designed primarily for students, but will be adaptable for faculty and staff as well. Our hope is to launch this important education program in the spring of 2007. We also offer a resource pamphlet titled “Ally-ship and Safe Space.” Another recent priority has been to support student efforts around allyship. Some of the most interesting and successful work being done on diversity and multiculturalism at Oberlin College, especially around what it means to be a strong and effective ally, is being done by student allies. Some examples include: Antiracist Organizing and White Privilege ExCo; White Straight Male Identity: Analysis, Accountability and Activism ExCO; OSCA Committee on Privilege and Oppression (COPAO); and the Oberlin Coalition for Immigrant Rights.

Does the MRC work on programming?
The MRC sponsors, co-sponsors, and supports more than 150 academic, activist, social, and cultural events each academic year. This includes working with faculty, staff and especially students on 8 major programming series annually.  

Does the MRC offer workshops and trainings around social justice issues?
An important function of the Multicultural Resource Center is to provide educational trainings and workshops for faculty, staff and students. In most cases, trainings and workshops are offered by request. This way we can carefully construct them to meet the specific needs of the given department, office, or group of students. The MRC will often collaborate with other individuals and offices such as the Ombudsperson and Oberlin College Dialogue Center to provide workshops.

Does the MRC reach out to communities beyond Oberlin?
The MRC has worked to more intentionally connect Oberlin students with local town and county communities/resources and vice versa. The Africana Host Family Program and the Oberlin en Lorain initiatives connect Oberlin College ’s Africana and Latino/a student communities with local communities and LGBT students have worked as mentors, supporting local LGBTA high school students. The MRC also does a significant amount of work with alumni both on and away from campus especially around creating professional development opportunities for current students as well as with Admissions around the recruitment of prospective students. 

Is the MRC a fun place?
The MRC can be about serious work and finding help/resources in a crisis, but it is also a really fun place to meet people and find a sense of community. We sponsor more than 40 social/community building events each year including: new and returning student receptions, weekly socials, special socials, prospective student open houses, study breaks, alumni gatherings, and commencement events. The MRC staff also prides itself on being highly visible members of the Oberlin College community. It is not unusual to see us together eating at Afrikan Heritage House or cheering at an athletic competition or taking in one of the many outstanding theater, dance, and music performances. So if you see us out and about, feel free to introduce yourself!  

How can I get involved?
The best way to get involved is just to stop by and introduce yourself. We are located in 208 Wilder Hall and are always happy to welcome new students to the MRC. At any given moment, there are always a group of friendly students hanging out. If you are interested in a particular issue or have a specific concern, the MRC is always accessible to provide you with information, advice, and referrals to additional resources. A great way to keep up on happenings with the MRC is our weekly events email. The MRC sends out an events email once a week on Tuesday afternoons. The email contains valuable information on upcoming events, funding sources, jobs and internships, and local and national networking opportunities such as conferences and workshops. If you would like to be kept in the loop about what is going on as well as opportunities as they arise, please contact the MRC at mrc@oberlin.edu and we will add you to the weekly email list.