An Evolving Center for Multicultural Affairs at Duke

Five people looking at the camera in Duke Gardens
Center for Multicultural Affairs staffers, from left: Shavonne Ross, Mel Arcila-Delgado, Monique Rochon, Hunter Roberts and new director Marcela Torres-Cervantes.

In 1972, three years after the Allen Building student takeover on Duke’s west campus, the administration established the Office of Black Affairs in response to the students’ demands.

The office was renamed the Center for Multicultural Affairs (CMA) to expand its scope and address the needs of an increasingly diverse group of students. As the forerunner of the identity and cultural centers, the CMA had been a refuge for Black students who were historically marginalized at a predominantly white institution.

A few years ago, the CMA celebrated its 50th anniversary. Now, the staff is “reimagining the CMA as a space rooted in care, curiosity and collaboration,” said Marcela Torres-Cervantes, the new director of the center.

The CMA has always been a cultural center that aims to create a sense of belonging, said Torres-Cervantes. “At its heart, the CMA is where students find themselves and their community,” she said. “Our mission is to support students as they explore identity, build meaningful connections, and engage across difference within the university and beyond it.”

Torres-Cervantes said that the CMA team is focused on delivering intentional cross‑cultural programming that supports students academically, socially, culturally, and as leaders.

On March 25, the Center co-hosted a patio event as a run-up to Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month that begins on May 1 – but is celebrated at Duke during the month of April before students leave campus.

The center will also be hosting a Multicultural Graduation on May 1 at Penn Pavilion. “We plan to integrate many different cultural rituals to celebrate the end of (students’) degrees at Duke, but we invite them to stay connected with us as alumni,” said Torres-Cervantes. (Students can write to the center for more information: dcma@duke.edu.)

The CMA supports events and campus initiatives through many collaborations across campus – including the other Duke Identity and Cultural Centers.

The center’s tagline is “For the culture,” inspired by the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture.

“We … believe culture is not singular or fixed,” Torres-Cervantes explained. “At the CMA, culture is the coming together of each person’s lived histories, identities, and experiences to shape the collective, global culture at Duke.”

This coming together is reflected in the CMA staff, whose members are a cornucopia of backgrounds and experiences from Louisiana, Colombia, Ecuador, the Caribbean, Mexico, South Korea and Buffalo, New York.

To learn more about For the Culture, CMA’s team members and the center’s  ongoing activities, visit Duke Student Affairs.