The Multicultural Student Center records is composed mainly of documents generated by the operations of the various registered student organizations affiliated with the Multicultural Student Center. The paper documents are divided into two sections and the mediated portion of the collection in a third section.
The first section contains files pertaining to events funded by the Multicultural Student Center event grants, which provide additional funding to registered student organizations for on campus events. These files generally contain information related to the grant process as well as promotional materials for the events themselves. The Collection includes documentation for events held by student organizations which focused on cultural music, intercultural dialog, student activism, career and professional development, comparative religion, performance art, and campus social events.
The second section includes the general files of a wide variety of student cultural organizations including some files from the era before the creation the Multicultural Student Center.
Files for Alianza/Union Puertorriquena begin in the late 1970s and older files for La Collectiva Cultural de Aztlan go back to the mid 1980s. In addition, organizations such as the Black Student Union, the African Diaspora, and various cultural Greek societies are well represented in the documents which include meeting agendas and minutes, promotional materials, election materials, rosters, correspondence, and proposals. Other student organizations are represented as well, including the Indian Students Association, the Hmong American Student Association, La Mujer Latina, the Lao American Organization of Students, the Minority Coalition, and Union Latinoamericana.
Images present in the collection are largely drawn from the photo albums created by Candace McDowell, the initial director of the Multicultural Student Center. McDowell curated a collection of images to be made available online in 2011 (see related materials note). The originals for that collection as well as additional images from McDowells albums are present in the collection along with photos and slides generated by student organizations like La Collectiva and the Asian American Student Union.
The collection also includes images and audio visual media created by student organizations which document campus events and organizational activities. These include several concerts, recordings of the Multicultural Orientation program, and selected lectures.
