The MultiCultural Center, in 1987, was created out of student demands, along with the support of the larger campus community, for a safer and inclusive community space for students of color at UCSB. With the original intent to facilitate the recruitment and retention of students of color and to combat intersecting systems of institutional oppression and racism, the center has grown, both in its mission and physical footprint, to address myriad social justice issues and take action in pursuit of a more just society.
Through its pillars of educational programming, student engagement, and community outreach, the MultiCultural Center models a mutually supportive relationship with its students, the campus at large, and serves as a bridge to the larger surrounding community. These pillars, along with the day-to-day interactions and opportunities for students and community members to foster and maintain connections, continue to ground the center as a shared community space that provides platforms for critical dialogue and serves to uphold a safer, welcoming space that validates marginalized identities.
Students have been, and remain, central to the MultiCultural Center. As a home for students who may not otherwise find such spaces on- or off-campus, the center cultivates a culture of care-work and belonging for students and student coalitions through opportunities for development and empowerment in their academic, professional, and personal pursuits. By centering the people that find a home at the MultiCultural Center, we seek to foster meaningful relationships that uplift students, staff, faculty, and the off-campus community through shared values and experiences that will empower the individual and the collective to serve as advocates for positive change in our communities.
As cultural centers often occupy a precarious position and face challenges, the MultiCultural Center’s commitment to collective social justice work cannot and will not stop. Through the unwavering support of student lock-in fees, the center is steadfast in its commitment to materialize its mission. It is vital that the MultiCultural Center remain an autonomous site through the direct guidance of student leadership, staff, and faculty. We will continue to uplift marginalized identities and communities because these values remain at the heart of the center. Despite existing in the margins while working within an institution, we will preserve and continually improve the MultiCultural Center as a place of knowledge, resistance, empathy, advocacy, and community for future generations of students, activists, and the larger community.
MCC Community Guidelines
A Love for Liberation Above All
We aim to uplift those whose voices have been stifled & demonized as a result of white supremacy & colonization. We aim to hold space and energy for those who seek peace & reparations.
Liberation looks different anywhere. Use this space to create conversation and learn from each other’s strife & accomplishments.
Freedom of Cultural Expression
Community advocacy is the root of this space, so make sure to use your voice or allyship to help us all bloom.
What is shared here, stays here. What is learned here, leaves here with intention.
Every culture is unique and beautifully expressed. From gender to food, as long as you come from a place of love, we have a place for you.
No Space for Hate
This includes intolerance such as white supremacy, xenophobia, racism, classism, ableism, religious discrimination, transphobia, homophobia, and any other systems of hate.
Be mindful of positionality and how different forms of privilege may influence how you move about the space. Understand that we all enter this space with unique experiences and knowledge that may differ from one another.
Energy is love, and as we navigate life we encourage each other to make mistakes as well as to take accountability for actions & words that may harm others. Strive to see your mistakes as opportunities for growth. We encourage calling each other in instead of calling each other out.
Meet the MCC Team
Contact
Friday, 10am–5pm
Saturday–Sunday, closed unless events scheduled
External Website
MCC WebsiteMCC Programs
The MultiCultural Center offers in-person/hybrid programming and offers various spaces for students to study, make connections, and be in community. The MCC staff is committed to providing spaces for engagement and social justice conversations at a time when community-building is now more important than ever. Stay updated on our website and social media for the latest information!
MultiCultural Center programs are partially funded by Associated Students and the Graduate Student Association of UCSB. Due to the nature of public programming, event times and dates are subject to change. All events are wheelchair accessible and free unless otherwise noted. Please call the MultiCultural Center at (805) 893-8411 or check www.mcc.sa.ucsb.edu for an updated schedule of events.
Events/Programs
You can’t miss it
There are no upcoming events.
The MCC wishes to acknowledge the traditional custodians of this place and all land upon which the University is located, and pay our respects to the Chumash Elders past, present, and future, for they hold the memories, the traditions, and the culture of this area, which has become a place of learning for people from all over the world.
The MultiCultural Center symbol represents the unity of humankind – moving, passing, returning again to those central intersections where people and cultures share deep human values – interlaced through our common humanity and continually confronted with our need to understand one another.
The MultiCultural Center continues to serve as a highly utilized physical space for undergraduate and graduate students of color, queer students, international students, and other marginalized groups. Safe spaces within the MCC include: the MCC Theater (150 seats), the MCC Lounge, the meeting room and kitchen.
As a unique collective of over 60 User Groups, the MCC Council offers the opportunity for building coalitions across different student organizations to engage with issues that affect marginalized students and communities. The MCC is proud to be formally associated with a vast array of student organizations. These groups, which include sororities and fraternities, political action committees, social clubs, and more, are all dedicated to the same mission as the MCC of promoting cultural awareness and building empowered communities. The MCC Council hosts two Town Halls and bi-quarterly council meetings for their User Groups.
