In a closet adjacent to the Student Life and Leadership office on the fourth floor of Craven Hall, the Multicultural programs office was inaugurated in March of 2003.

By 2007, the program was renamed as the Cross-Cultural center.

“We were one of the first or longer serving here on campus. It was really some foresight that administrators here had on this campus to say ‘we need a space to address our marginalized populations…’ There can be a space where folks can feel comfortable in talking about these things,” said Floyd Lai the Associate Director of

Multicultural Programs Student Life & Leadership.

The Cross-Cultural center is now located in USU 3400, and will be celebrating their 15th anniversary celebration on March 27 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the USU Ballroom.

Lai said the purpose of the event is to “show a little bit of what the Cross-Cultural center has done, what our impact has been for the last 15 years. Whether that be programmatically, or whether that be personally.”

The event will have refreshers and entertainment from student organizations that will show cultural presentations. Lai said he hopes to see administrators, faculty, students and alumni at the event.

The Cross-Cultural center’s mission is “being a space for all students, to engage in and understand what social justice is for them personally, as well as how can we advocate for and support students around issues of social justice,” said Lai.

Lai encourages students to visit the center to find re- sources and participate in ac-
tivism and advocacy.

“We are a space that hopefully students can really recognize… that this is a re- source for them. We invite all students if they want to participate in, that they are welcomed to come and check out what we offer, and invite them to be part of our programs. To also allow us an opportunity to see how we can support their time here at CSUSM.”

The center is available Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5p.m.

Those interested in attending the event can RSVP in the Cross-Cultural center website http://www.csusm.edu/sll/mc/c3.html.