Multicultural Center

History & LegacyMCC East View

Where We Came From

In 2004, the Western Illinois University Cultural Center Project Planning Committee was created by Vice President for Student Services Garry Johnson at the request of President Al Goldfarb to develop a proposal for building a new facility that would house the Gwendolyn Brooks Cultural Center (GBCC), and this committee soon expanded to become the Multicultural Center Steering Committee. The temporary relocation of the GBCC had created an opportunity for the University to develop a stronger vision of the future utility of all three centers and how physical space can be designed to provide greater opportunities for the provision of resources, services, programming, and interactions. The University, in appointing the committee, recognized the need for a more functional housing arrangement for the three centers.

In a centrally located common facility with distinctive environmental design and cultural atmosphere, the centers would become more visible and accessible to students, faculty, staff and community members and could expand program and service delivery, which might further strengthen the University’s recruitment and retention efforts, especially of underrepresented groups including Black, Latinx, international, and female students, faculty and staff.

The Multicultural Center was officially opened in August of 2009, and is located across the street from the University Union. The center is unique in that it is the first building on Western's Macomb campus to be constructed under green standards, including a grass roof. In 2019, ten years after the opening of the building, the Multicultural Center welcomed the LGBT*QA Resource Center as the fourth member of the MCC family. That same year, the Multicultural Center became one cohesive unit, with all of the centers operating under one director of the MCC. The center is now home to the Gwendolyn Brooks Cultural Center, the Casa Latina Cultural Center, the LGBT*QA Resource Center, and the Women's Center, which each work together under the Director of the MCC, the Program Coordinator, the Events Administrator, the Office Administrator, a team of Graduate Assistants, and all of our Student Ambassadors.

Being located in one central location gives the four centers a chance to enhance their goals of educational, social, and cultural programs and resources that will help to focus the campus community's awareness and appreciation of diversity, equity, and inclusion by recognizing and inviting all backgrounds to build community together.

Where We Are Going

The Multicultural Center, home of the Gwendolyn Brooks Cultural Center, Casa Latina, the Women’s Center, and the LGBT*QA Resource Center, aims to advance the goals of educational, social, and cultural awareness. Together, the MCC provides resources to enhance the campus community’s understanding and appreciation of all identities.

Casa Latina is a home away from home for students of all backgrounds, with programs and student organizations highlighting the Latin American and Indigenous cultures.

Get involved with Amplify, Latin American Student Organization (LASO), and Tradicion Latin Dance Team.

Take part in Latinx Heritage Month, Día De Los Muertos, BYOT (Bring your own tortilla), and Calle Murray.

Gwendolyn Brooks Cultural Center is committed to helping the campus community adjust to a multicultural and multiracial society regardless of race, age, or economic status.

There are a variety of options for student groups under GBCC: African Student Association (ASA), Black Student Association (BSA), Christian Faith Campus Ministries (CFCM), GBCC Dance Troupe, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Student Organization of Caribbean Ancestry (SOCA).

Join us for a BSA Royal Court, Black Family Reunion Weekend, and a variety of Black History Month events to promote the cultural experiences of the African Diaspora.

The LGBT*QA Resource Center is a space for students to become visible and form connections with the Queer community at WIU and in Macomb.

Everyone is welcome to join our student organization, Unity and Chingonx Afrocentric Queers (CAQ), or participate in our Queer book club. A gender affirming closet is also available free of charge.

The QueerVember, Big Picture Picnic, Camp OUT, Trans* Day of Remembrance, Drag Shows, and Pride Fest are a few of the great events you can be part of each year.

The Women’s Center is a space to celebrate women, and we welcome students of all genders. Our goal is to empower and provide support for students.

The National Organization for Women (NOW), the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs Inc. (NACWC), The Golden Motion, and The Good Girl Movement are all student organizations to consider joining.

Come be part of legacy events like Love Your Body Day, Take Back the Night, The Vagina Monologues, and Women’s History Month programs.

Land Acknowledgement

The Multicultural Center at Western Illinois University is located on the ancestral lands of the Illinois (Inoca) indigenous people.

The Inoca were a tribe within the Peoria Tribe, which was one of the five main tribes of the Illinois Confederation.

There were 12 to 13 tribes that lived in the Mississippi River Valley. Tribes occupied an area reaching from Lake Michicigao (Michigan) to Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas. The five main tribes were the Cahokia, Kaskaskia, Michigamea, Peoria, and Tamaro.