Book Review - Creating Multicultural Change on Campus

About the Book
Embrace the best practices for initiating multicultural change in individuals, groups, and institutions

Higher education institutions have begun to take steps toward addressing multicultural issues on campuses, but more often than not, those in charge of the task have received little to no training in the issues that are paramount in serving culturally diverse students. Creating Multicultural Change on Campus is a response to this problem, offering new conceptualizations and presenting practical strategies and best practices for higher education professionals who want to foster the awareness, knowledge, and skills necessary for multicultural change on an institutional level. In Creating Multicultural Change on Campus, the authors of the classic text Multicultural Competence in Student Affairs delve deep into key concepts in multicultural organizational development, guiding readers who want to enact change not just at the individual level, but also at the group and institutional levels.

Readers will be introduced to frameworks that are crucial for creating inclusive, welcoming, and affirming campus environments. You'll also find comprehensive examples from several institutions along with specific examples of effective multicultural practices that are useful for real-world situations. The book:

• Provides the strategies, frameworks, and expert guidance for recognizing and addressing multicultural issues in institutions of higher learning
• Offers a rich understanding of both Multicultural Organizational Development (MCOD) and the Multicultural Change Intervention Matrix (MCIM) and how these models are important for evaluating environments and outcomes
• Is appropriate for those who serve students directly, as well as higher education leaders and administrators who create professional development programs
• Is designed as a practical guide and filled with specific examples to help readers apply strategies to their own campuses
• A much-needed resource, this book can help lead institutions toward meaningful action that will have a positive impact for all individuals in a student body and the professionals who serve them.

My Take on the Book
Creating change on campus is always hard. Creating multicultural change on campus is many times harder still. I know this first-hand, as in my professional role I am tasked to work on diversity issues within our division. Daily I work to create opportunities for people to interact, engage and more, through programs and other experiences. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't, but the challenge is that the change that I work to enact, i slow in coming and I, nor others, do not typically see this change happening quickly, which is sometimes frustrating.

As someone that really did not get any training on this role in my job description, I was please to read this book as it is an amazing resource for anyone working to create multicultural change on their own college campus. The book provides guidance, resources and more to aid people like myself through the steps that need to be taken to support students and to continue on the path toward sustainable change for campuses.

One of the things that makes this book powerful though in my opinion were the practical examples that were shared. I loved being able to read about the other campuses and gain a better picture of how the concept/idea could manifest itself into attainability on my own campus.

All-in-all this book was a great resource and I wish that I had this book long before I started in my current role. However, now that I have it, I plan to use it to the best of my ability!


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