Stylus Publishing (VA) Multicultural Student Services on Campus: Building Bridges, Re-visioning Community (An ACPA Co-Publication)

Review "The authors offer a collective vision of multicultural student services (MSS) that takes the best of what we have learned in the past to move forward in re-visioning the higher education community of the future. This is a bold vision of a newly-fashioned MSS that connects and integrates issues of race and ethnicity with those of sexual orientation, gender identity and religious expression, and takes MSS away from the margins of student and academic affairs units to become a key venue to assist in building transformative and democratic campus communities.Like Sankofa, the mythic bird that flies forward while looking backward, the authors offer a collective vision of MSS that takes the best of what we have learned in the past to move forward in re-visioning the higher education community of the future. This is a bold vision of a newly-fashioned MSS that: 1) connects and integrates issues of race and ethnicity with those of sexual orientation, gender identity and religious expression, 2) advocates Critical Race Theory as the key lens where MSS can operate, 3) takes MSS away from the margins of student and academic affairs units to become a key venue to assist in building transformative and democratic campus communities, 4) involves the education of majority students as allies for social justice, and 5) integrates multicultural competence with social justice advocacy. I envision MSS as the golden egg in Sankofa's mouth symbolizing the full potential of MSS to take center stage in the transformation of higher education as a socially just organization that emancipates consciousness as it welcomes, supports and validates the full diversity of its students.--Laura I. Rendón, Professor at the University of Texas-San Antonio (4/1/2011 12:00:00 AM)"This book represents a milestone in the treatment of multicultural services in the literature. It not only expands our understanding of history, but it deepens our consideration of the breadth of issues that must be considered as future multicultural services structures are constructed. Multicultural Student Services on Campus is written in a style that makes the conversation on the vital role of multicultural services accessible to leaders at all levels of the campus community. This book should be on the reading list of any leader concerned with making responsible, informed decisions about how to approach the future of multicultural services on their campus."--Larry D. Roper, Vice Provost for Student Affairs, Oregon State University (4/1/2011 12:00:00 AM)A fatal flaw among communities of marginalized groups is the lack of documentation of the purpose, creation, and development of their unique organizational structures, environments, and traditions. This book is the resource and chronicle needed to provide a tangible history, written by scholars who have a critical race lens, of the challenges and transitions this administrative area has encountered the past five decades. Insightful, inclusive, and concise the book shares the collective history of multicultural student services across various academic environments and diverse populations. When reading each chapter I had to pause and reflect on the universality of the statements made about multicultural student services and the lack of understanding and knowledge about the impact of this administrative area is because 'no one is telling their story but now it is being told.--Mary Howard-Hamilton, Professor, Higher Education/Educational Leadership, Indiana State UniversityEssays on the history and concerns of multicultural student services; topics include the effect of different campus settings--private liberal-arts colleges, public institutions, community colleges, historically black institutions, and tribal colleges.-- "The Chronicle of Higher Ed" (7/25/2011 12:00:00 AM)This book is an excellent resource for graduate students and new professionals as well as seasoned student affairs professionals who need to understand the depth,