Intercultural Student Center Opens Its Doors To New Mainers

Portland ME

08 April, 2022

6:57 AM

Description

Press release from Southern Maine Community College: April 6, 2022 SMCC's new Intercultural Student Center has opened its doors to provide guidance and a welcoming environment in support of New Mainers and others. The Intercultural Student Center (ISC) is located on the third floor of Howe Hall, where Onye Obi-Okoye is busy transforming a large office place into a space where immigrant and other minority students can always feel at home, connect with each other and access resources to help them through their college journeys. Obi-Okoye started his job last week as Director of the ISC. "The center will be a place where people from diverse backgrounds can turn to if they have questions, need guidance or are facing challenges academically or in their careers," said Obi-Okoye. "This will be a place where students will feel comfortable, whether they need advice, support or simply a kind word." To establish the center, SMCC applied for a grant offered by Idexx Laboratories through the Foundation for Maine's Community Colleges. The Foundation was selected as a grant recipient and provided SMCC with the funding that was donated. The goal is to help New Mainers enrolled in SMCC's degree, certificate and workforce training programs complete the education and skills training they need for future success while also benefiting Maine's economy by providing Maine employers a trained and skilled workforce. The center is also looking to promote social equity, diversity, improved intercultural understanding and social inclusiveness across the College. In the days ahead, the Intercultural Student Center will be furnished with couches, chairs, informational materials, arts and crafts, a wall map, refreshments and other things that will inform students while creating a welcoming environment. SMCC's Student Life team is also looking to hire an advisor to help with intercultural student programming for everyone looking to become part of the center. The center will be working with ProsperityME, a nonprofit dedicated to helping Maine's immigrants and refugees. By agreement, ProsperityME will offer scholarships to New Mainers that will pay for the first year of tuition at SMCC, while SMCC provides those students peer and career mentors. For the students' second year, SMCC will do whatever it can to increase the likelihood that they complete their education and receive a degree or certificate. Obi-Okoye has lived, studied and worked in a variety of cultures with different social ideologies, languages and traditions. A native of Nigeria, he has lived on five continents and earned several academic degrees across Nigeria, the United Kingdom and the U.S. He's currently earning a research doctorate in law at the University of Maine School of Law, and was recently an Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (IDEC) Fellow at the University of Southern Maine. Obi-Okoye has also been a conflict resolution professional and management consultant for over 15 years. He can contacted by email at [email protected]. This press release was produced by Southern Maine Commuity College. The views expressed here are the author's own.