The new Multicultural Liaison Officer (MLO), Christy Oxendine, has big plans for the multicultural students of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) community.

Beginning in student affairs and housing, Oxendine has a history of working with college students. From beginning as a hall director and making her way to academic advising, she realized this is what she loves to do.

“Being able to meet with students, that’s why I do what I do,” Oxendine said.

However, Oxendine’s career at Iowa State did not start in the liberal arts and sciences community. She started here as coordinator of international students for the College of Engineering in January 2017. After working with the other Multicultural Liaison Officers, Oxendine knew this was a community she wanted to become further involved in.

“I knew the work that they did for our multicultural students on campus and I really wanted to apply for that opportunity,” Oxendine said.

By Sept. 5, she was the new MLO for the LAS community. So far, Oxendine has loved her new position and feels it’s a great fit for her. She feels she better understands these students because of the fact that she is a woman of color living in Iowa herself, and she can relate to the students’ experiences here in Ames.

Although there are still some learning curves she is having to adjust to, Oxendine has plans for expanding the outreach programs for multicultural students in the LAS community and creating better opportunities for not only first year students, but also sophomores, juniors and seniors.

Oxendine said she is “a big proponent of asking what students need and forming an outreach around those needs” and thinks it’s important “to hear from our students themselves.”

Making her student’s her first priority, Oxendine is greatly looking forward to helping and improving the LAS community for multicultural students.