Luiza Dreasher understands one important detail about the Multicultural Student Affairs Office – things can be turned around.

But it isn’t going to be easy.

“It’s not going to be an easy task. It will take time,” said Dreasher, multicultural liaison officer for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Although there are sure to be some bumps in the road for whomever is chosen to fill the role of assistant dean and director of MSA, Dreasher, the third of four candidates, said there is no better time than now to make the necessary changes to the office.

“I think MSA has a significant window of opportunity to enclose and shape the campus environment,” she said.

To help ease the transition when the new MSA director is selected, Dreasher said a collaborative effort is needed between a number of different offices at Iowa State.

One of the issues Dreasher focused on in her presentation Monday was refocusing MSA to serve all students, not just students of color.

Dreasher said that instead of just focusing on the multicultural population, the MSA Office needs to broaden its reach to act as “student affairs educators” for the entire campus community.

“We should not just be serving students of color,” she said. “That’s one important part of the population, but we should also be serving other students. We have a role in preparing all students.”

During her time working in the MSA Office, Dreasher said the two biggest issues she noticed were a lack of consistent leadership and a nonexistent framework outlining the specific roles of MSA employees.

When asked by Japannah Kellogg, program coordinator for Student Support Services, about her first actions if selected for the position, Dreasher made her thoughts clear.

“I want to take a hard look at the office . at the things we should and should not be doing,” she said.

“What is it that really matters to us? And what can we do to be the best?” Kellogg said.

Dreasher said she would go as far as to rename the MSA Office to the Department of Multicultural Education Services, in order to “better reflect the actions coming out of the office.”

During a question-and-answer session after Dreasher unveiled her vision for the MSA Office, Bruce Allen, academic adviser for Iowa State’s pre-law program, brought up the issue of graduate students. Allen and other members of the audience asked where and how graduate students should go about seeking multicultural services currently and after the new director for MSA is chosen.

Dreasher’s response was less than promising for graduate students looking to the MSA office for guidance.

“Graduate students are a whole different beast,” Dreasher said. “I don’t know that we would be the best place to serve them.”

During both her presentation and the open forum, Dreasher made it clear: The MSA office isn’t just for multicultural students.

“We have a role in preparing all students, we serve as a resource on multicultural issues,” she said.

“We should create multicultural spaces of learning in the cafeteria, the residence halls, the classroom, the multicultural center or even if it takes place thousands of miles away during a study abroad experience. MSA can help create that environment wherever we want,” Dreasher said.