The Daily Gamecock

New lounge promotes sense of multicultural community

In support of an academically and culturally diverse campus population, the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs has introduced a new space to accommodate students.

The Intersection: Multicultural Student Lounge, formerly the Off-Campus Student Lounge, is an initiative launched specifically to highlight diversity and to serve as a hub for OMSA events. A welcome letter from OMSA Director Shay Malone said the lounge "will offer a space for students to explore issues related to cultural competence, diversity, and social justice." 

OMSA aims to help create an inclusive environment for all students on USC's campus and to afford minority groups a peer support system. Organizations within the office utilize the Russell House space in for these purposes. Student groups are able to hold meetings or give presentations in the space at OMSA's discretion. 

According to Malone, the new lounge "features two small meeting rooms, learning spaces, soft seating and audio/visual equipment for facilitating presentations and accessing multimedia." 

The Intersection posts a weekly schedule of events on which some organizations already appear regularly. The Men of Color Initiative, for example, will meet in the lounge every other Tuesday at 5 p.m. The office's EMPOWER Lunch and Learn series will continue at noon once a month. 

"The Intersection is located on the lower level of the Russell House West Wing," Malone said. "We hope to see you there soon!" 


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