An important part of a university, especially in Iowa, is creating and maintaining solid multicultural services for students.

In the session “Implementing and Improving Multicultural Student Services,” at Friday’s Iowa State Conference On Race and Ethnicity, issues such as affirmative action, local and national programs for multiethnic students and the components necessary for a multiethnic center were discussed.

The leaders of the discussion were Chavel Aron, sophomore in Spanish, Carmen Paz, sophomore in English, and Brittany Overstreet, sophomore in communication studies.

Paz discussed the legislation that led to the creation of multiethnic programs.

“The first legislation that came into effect in the United States was during Lyndon Johnson’s presidency from 1963 to 1969,” she said.

He focused on Johnson’s War on Poverty, in response to the more than 135 million Americans living in poverty.

“The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 came as a result of this,” Paz said.

She also discussed the Higher Education Act of 1965 and the Bilingual Education Act of 1968.

“Because of affirmative action, institutions opened up more to students of color,” she said.

According to the presentation, affirmative action is made up of public policies and initiatives designed to help eliminate past and present discrimination.

Paz said that, overall, the group that benefits most from affirmative action is white women.

Overstreet gave an overview of some of the programs that are offered to multiethnic students on campus and around the nation.

“One of the academic enrichment programs that they do offer is the Multicultural Learning Communities,” Overstreet said.

The Multicultural Learning Community gives students the opportunity to live and learn together and it transitions first-year students into college life, according to a Multicultural Student Affairs brochure.

Overstreet also discussed the federal TRIO Program that Iowa State offers. TRIO are programs geared toward low-income and first-generation students.

Rolando Chacon, senior in apparel merchandising, design and production, is a part of the Student Support Services of the TRIO program at Iowa State.

Student Support Services offers low-income and first-generation students tutoring and mentoring, personal, academic and career counseling, among other things.

“For me, it has been a support system; I have met other minorities,” Chacon said.

“It gives me a sense of being at home.”

At the end of the session, the audience broke into groups to discuss challenges, components, characteristics and necessities that go into a multiethnic center.

“When we are thinking of how to improve the programs that already exist on campus, you should look at the people who really utilize this and people who are going to be joining us for help,” Aron said.

Some of the ideas included focusing on retaining and recruiting students, having a multiethnic staff, considering student input, reversing student apathy and being inclusive to all types of students.

“I’ve seen, on other campuses, the issue of a multicultural center being a place for students of color and faculty of color, but what about white students who are interested in being exposed and wanting to be involved?” said Nina Grant, program coordinator for the Agriculture Experiment Station.

“We need those allies, so how do we go about getting those allies?”

For more information on the services that Multicultural Student Affairs offers, go to www.msa.iastate.edu.