Purpose Statement
Our purpose is to advocate for underrepresented students and provide experiential learning opportunities for all students in order to create a university community that integrates and values multiple perspectives and cultural narratives.
History
The Unity House was founded in 1997 to meet the needs of students who felt marginalized on campus. The initiative to establish the department was motivated and led by a student leader who strongly advocated for positive change and transformation.
Later renamed, Unity Multicultural Education Center (UMEC), the purpose of the center continues to support the academic and co-curricular experiences of African, Latina/o, Asian, and Native American students at Gonzaga University.
Additionally, the focus has expanded to continue to meet the needs of a fluid demographic and provide the Gonzaga community with educational and social opportunities to raise cultural awareness. UMEC welcomes all to participate in upcoming events and programs in an effort to collectively learn and actively promote social justice.
About UMEC
UMEC is centered around three specialized areas and 1st generation student support.
Our first area, Social Justice Programming, hosts co-curricular programs that focus on social justice and the experiences of historically underrepresented and traditionally marginalized communities.
Our Mentoring area offers support for students with underrepresented marginalized identities and backgrounds through mentoring programs including the oversight of our pre-orientation BRIDGE program, our Unity Scholars, and Act Six Scholars.
UMEC’s third area of expertise is Intercultural Development, providing our campus community opportunities to become better intercultural communicators. Our Social Justice Peer Educators lead interactive workshops that promote social identity development while building a community of social justice advocates. This area also hosts Intergroup Dialogue, a series of semester-long, face-to-face, small group discussions around one or more social identities led by trained faculty and staff facilitators.
Stay Up To Date
View our calendar of events here.
Folllow our Instagram @guumec
