Using the lens of race and ethnicity, MESA engages the campus community and transforms the student experience to build inclusive spaces and equitable opportunities. Through this unique lens, MESA provides experiences, leadership, and engagement opportunities that embody celebration, education, and social capital building. MESA’s programs are designed to create meaning and belonging for underrepresented students on campus.
Building Community and a Sense of Belonging
Heritage Months
MESA’s programs are informed by best practices of supporting underrepresented students. This permeates through our program design, content, advising, and student engagement. Celebrating student identities of cultural, racial, and ethnic backgrounds is an integral part of MESA’s work, allowing students to deepen their own understanding of self, build community, and share with others. MESA provides coordinated leadership for five heritage months, through its support of a Program Manager, Graduate Student, and Student Staff Coordinator who engage with a committee and the community to put forth programming. Each heritage month highlights cultural heritage, history, and contributions to the diversity, cross-cultural understanding, and interconnectedness that foster a vibrant and diverse U-M community. At least one session in every heritage month also address anti-racism. It also provides opportunity for critical and intellectual looks into on-going contemporary discourse through dialogues, speakers, and teach-ins.
5 Heritage Months
85 Heritage Month Events
7 Student Life Partners
18 Academic Partners
27 Student Organizations
Arab Heritage Month
“Being student coordinator for Arab Heritage Month was an enriching experience that helped me improve my communication and organizational skills. It was an integral way for me to give back to my community and bring it together. It was also a fantastic way to share my culture with those who were not familiar with it. I was able to shape Arab Heritage Month to be diverse, inclusive, and exciting. It was extremely rewarding to see final calendar and how much participants enjoyed each event.” - Amira Mandwee, Arab Heritage Month Student Coordinator."
In the media:
MESAPalooza!
MESA was joined by over 600 students at its annual kick off event, MESA Palooza! This welcome week event connects First Year student to student organizations and units on campus. It allows students to tap into resources, join organizations, and establish initial connections with fellow peers.
36 Multicultural Student Organizations participated
18 Student Life and Academic Units participated
Approximately 600 students attended
MESA Love
MESA celebrated the accomplishments of student staff members at it’s annual event, MESA Love. We reflect and appreciate our graduating seniors who had been apart of the MESA community. Over 100 students participated in the event, 30 of whom were graduating seniors. Service cords were awarded to graduating seniors who contributed to MESA by assisting in building community and supporting opportunities to create spaces for meaning and belonging across communities.
100 students participated
30 graduating students
BUYA!
As a continuation of the ALMA program, MESA sponsored BUYA! a celebration hosted by La Casa at the end of the Fall Semester. This event celebrated the first year students completing their first semester, 137 students attended as well as Faculty, Staff, and Administrators from across campus.
137 students attended, and several administrators, faculty, and staff
2019 South Asian Awareness Network (SAAN) Annual Conference
The South Asian Awareness Network (SAAN) is one of MESA’s sponsored student organizations. SAAN hosts an annual conference in addition to events throughout the year. Their mission is “to increase awareness of issues salient to South Asian communities, encourage its participants to engage thoughtfully with their surroundings, and promote innovative solutions to issues of social justice.” SAAN is responsible for a prominent lineup of social justice events year-round, including the premier undergraduate South Asian student conference in the nation, SAAN prides itself in the diversity of topics it covers – from the creative arts to politics – as well as the quality of its speakers. This year, under the theme “Shifting Sands” the community engaged in interdisciplinary discussions ranging from personal narrative, gender & sexuality, criminal justice reform, and immigration through the lens of social and racial justice. Associate Vice President for Student Life, Kambiz Khalili, served as a keynote speaker. The conference attracted presenters from across the country. Close to 300 people attended. This year, our contributing partners/sponsors were OAMI, Center for South Asian Studies, Princeton Review, Residential College, and Women’s Studies. MESA and SAAN are appreciative for their contributions.
Close to 300 participants in attendance
Men of Color Symposium
MESA has been providing coordination and leadership for the Men of Color Symposium since its inception a few years ago. The third annual event was held on Saturday, April 13, 2019 in the Trotter Multicultural Center on State Street. It was the first large event held in the space soon after its historic opening. Over 100 students, faculty, and staff gathered at Trotter Multicultural Center. The Symposium’s theme, “Finding your Flow” received 15 presentation proposals and 9 were accepted. LSA philosophy professor, Derrick Darby served as the event’s keynote speaker where he talked about the intersections of race relations and philosophy. Nine other units and departments supported efforts though committed staff and financial sponsorship.
Among 101 responses received:
27.7% undergraduate students
19.8% graduate students
33.7% staff
5% faculty
13.9% unaffiliated (Washternaw Community College Students and Staff)
Our data indicates that the impact of the symposium on participants was community building, networking, professional development, and cross-cultural learning.
Partnerships:
- Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs
- Rackham Graduate School
- Trotter Multicultural Center
- Counseling and Psychological Services
- Office of Academic and Multicultural Initiatives
- U-M Library Dean's Office
- Comprehensive Studies Program
- Center for Educational Outreach
- Career Center
- Stamps School of Art & Design
In the media:
Anti-Racism and Coalition Building Teach-In work development and pilot
“In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist -- we must be anti-racist”, Angela Davis (1979). Therefore, in order to do racial justice work, we start with doing anti-racism work.
Anti-racism is the active process of identifying and eliminating racism by changing systems, organizational structures, policies and practices, and attitudes so that power is redistributed and shared equitably (definition from the University of Calgary). MESA has started to develop and continues to enhance curriculum to engage students in the work to think critically, reflect, and build personal action plans to be a part of the solution to combat racism. To achieve this, MESA developed three 90-minute peer-led teach-ins that are grounded in interactive and dialogic pedagogy. They are:
- Anti-Racism (domestic context)
- Coalition Building across student organizations
- Anti-Racism abroad
Three undergraduate peer facilitators were hired and trained
Ten sessions of Anti-Racism teach-ins were scheduled as a pilot
Eight sessions were delivered
54 undergraduate students attended
Winter 2019: Peer Inclusive Educators (PIE) Team was formed
Peer Inclusive Educator (PIE) team member’s testimony
“For the past year, I've been working with MESA as a Peer Inclusive Educator (PIE). Though this was originally a pilot program, our small team was able to accomplish many of our goals. This experience allowed me to gain transferable skills that I'm able to use not only in the classroom, but for my future career endeavors as well. My biggest passions in life revolve around public service, politics, and government-- with a concentrated focus on education and inclusivity for minorities and other marginalized communities. MESA's mission has always fallen in line with my passions, which makes my experience that much more meaningful. Working with such sensitive materials, such as racism and privilege helped me hone my communication and interpersonal skills, as I was able to adapt each workshop to each participant and empathize with their individual experiences. As a Peer Inclusive Educator, we were also given a lot of autonomy in our work, which allowed me to build strong relationships with my peers and supervisor. Our work throughout the year has always been built on trust and care for each other as coworkers, but also as individuals. Because of this, we created a strong, inclusive working environment. I am very proud of my work with MESA thus far, and I look forward to the next year as we continue to expand this program!”. - Cindy Lin (Anti-Racism and Coalition Building Teach-In Peer Facilitator)
MESA Grants
MESA is invested in cultivating student engagement and growth through the empowerment of students and student organizations. We focus on enhancing student agency and autonomy through reflective advising and support. To achieve this, MESA provides an interactive grants process. Programs and events that are awarded grants are required to promote social justice education through the lens of race and ethnicity. Some examples include on campus dialogues, identity exploration, cultural education/awareness, cross-cultural initiatives, and community building that supports positive growth and relationships within the U-M community. All events funded must be open to all community members. MESA received 121 applications from over 100 student organizations, of which 95 applications were approved for funding. Each organization received at least one one-on-one unique advising/coaching session with professional staff or trained student staff on various aspects ranging from program coordination to budgeting, and risk management.
121 applications received from over 100 student organizations
95 grants awarded
100 unique coaching sessions
Fall 2018: Funding total = $24,676.41
Winter 2019: Funding total = $20,517.33
Additional VSO funding for five major events: Funding total = $9,496.78.
S.I.B.S. Mentoring Program
Supporting Incoming Black Students (S.I.B.S.) is a Sponsored Student Organization of MESA. It is designed as a year long mentoring Program open to all students who are interested in issues that affect the Black community. The goal of S.I.B.S. is to provide and connect students with personal, academic, and professional development opportunities. An event is planned every month to bring mentors and mentees together for various activities from social and cultural gatherings to discussions on specific topics that enhance their growth, active engagement, and leadership.
100 new First Year mentees
50 mentors
5 core members/volunteer
8 events coordinated throughout the year
SALAM - Successful Arab Leaders at Michigan (September 4-5, 2018)
SALAM is a three-day orientation program that aims to introduce incoming Arab students - both First Year and transfer students - to campus resources, support networks, and the Arab community. Students will have the opportunity to meet students, faculty, and staff, as well as departments and organizations that foster their growth as student leaders at the university. In addition, SALAM provides intentional programming that supports the recognition and exploration of Arab identities and connects incoming Arab students to the established foundation of resources. The program is open to all incoming and transfer students who are interested in the issues that are impacting the Arab community. After the program, SALAM participants continue to participate during their first year in a series of monthly workshops via the Arab Leadership Network (ALN) to further support and enrich their experiences navigating their first year on campus.
“As a first-year student, participating in SALAM allowed me to...creat[e] the first sense of community for me at the University of Michigan. Being able to have an orientation geared towards my identity allowed me to prepare for the next four years at the University of Michigan. At SALAM, I made my first friends and met my first mentors, people who I continue to rely on and look up to today. I was also introduced to all the Arab cultural organizations on campus, which I am now a part of. SALAM was a great way to start my college experience and I believe it shaped my first year on campus.” - Marwa Khalil, Class of 2022
“SALAM has made my transition to college a lot less overwhelming. I was able to find a community on campus and was provided with resources that I could utilize during my time here. SALAM has proven to me that Michigan cares about having diversity on its campus. By exploring my own identity as an Arab American student, I was able to better think about the importance of the identity of others. Additionally, SALAM was my first exposure to mentorship. The upperclassmen who I met through SALAM helped me choose what classes to take, gave me a better sense of what life on campus looks like, and overall, taught me what it takes to be successful at Michigan. I am forever thankful for the SALAM program and could not imagine transitioning to college without it.” - Marina Khreizat, Class of 2022
34 SALAM registered participants
30 student volunteers
Total of 140 overall attendees over the course of two-day event
8 Arab Leadership Network workshops
ALMA – Assisting Latinx to Maximize Achievement (Aug 26-29, 2018)
ALMA intends to aid incoming students with their transition to Michigan. Coordinated by La Casa and sponsored by MESA, it strives to build a sense of community for incoming students to explore the Latinx experience at a predominantly white institution (PWI). Open to all First Year students, it also seeks to create a welcoming space for students to explore and celebrate their identities. Students make meaningful connections with current faculty, staff, and students, and learn about valuable campus resources through activities, presentations, and dialogues. The program took place at the De Sales Center in Brooklyn, MI. 69 incoming First Year students attended and completed the program.
Building Community and Sense of Belonging
A growing body of research informs us that students’ sense of belonging on campus is crucial for student success and persistence (Education Advisory Board, 2019). Many factors are responsible for contributing to foster one’s sense of belonging. Accordingly to Strayhorn (2012), sense of belonging is the "perceived social support on campus, a feeling of connectedness, the experience of mattering or feeling cared about, accepted, respected, valued by, and important to the group (e.g., campus community) or others on campus.”
Emphasis on program evaluation
Under the leadership of Director Nadia Bazzy and Associate Director Krishna Han, an emphasis on program evaluation and student engagement through assessment was enacted. MESA established an assessment liaison and focused its programmatic and student assessment on the theme of meaning and belonging. A total of 412 responses were collected, 285 were students, and 136 were faculty and staff.
84.8% strongly agree and 12.9% agree that the MESA event/program they participated in fostered a sense of belonging regarding race and ethnicity at the University of Michigan.
52.7% strongly agree and 32.9% agree that the MESA event/program they participated in broadens their view on identities and cultural contribution to our campus community.
48.4% strongly agree and 33% agree that the MESA event/program they participated in increased their understanding of the community.
The ongoing impact of MESA would not be possible without your generous contributions. This year, Gift Funds have improved accessibility of the university’s resources for underrepresented students through grants for student organizations, leadership advising, heritage month events, and orientation and mentorship programs. This has impacted thousands of university students’ experiences and has resulted in some of the most robust attendance and participation in recent years. Your financial contributions will allow MESA to expand its legacy of building community and a sense of belonging on campus for all.
Looking ahead
- S.I.B.S. mentoring program is transitioning toward a group mentoring model that focuses on community building, professional development, and leadership.
- Developing student staff by utilizing intentional curriculum design and reflective practice, grounded in M-Lead Competencies Model and transferable skills for career development.
- Benchmarking on multi-racial programming is being conducted and we are looking forward to see its results and recommendations.
- Increased funding for MESA grants and all heritage month programs.
- Increased allocated funds for student organizations that MESA advises.
Professional Staff
Nadia Bazzy, Director
Krishna Han, Associate Director
chee ia yang, Program Manager
Abby Chien, Program Manager
Leon Howard III, Program Manager
Javier Solorzano Parada, Program Manager
Andrew Ward, Program Manager
Henry Mochida, Communications Specialist
Sarah Burch, Office Manager
Rachel Bryan, Interim Program Manager
Student Staff
Teresa Vazquez, CSHPE Graduate Intern
Askari Rushing, DEI Graduate Intern (Summer)
Jessica Hobbs, Graphic Designer
Steffi Cao, Grant & Outreach Go Team Student Coordinator
Miriam Chung, Grant & Outreach Go Team Student Coordinator
Madison Petersen, Grant & Outreach Go Team Student Coordinator
Cindy Lin, Peer Inclusive Education Student Facilitator
Betsaida Valdivia, Peer Inclusive Education Student Facilitator
Alexander Mullen, Student Coordinator (Latinx Heritage Month)
Samara Jackson Tobey, Student Coordinator (Native American Heritage Month)
Halimat Olaniyan, Student Coordinator (Black History Month)
Ashley Tjhung, Student Coordinator (Asian Pacific Islander American Heritage Month)
Amira Mandwee, Student Coordinator (Arab Heritage Month)
Credits:
Created with images by Ryan Hutton - "untitled image" • kirahoffmann - "soap bubbles green farbenspiel" • Melany Rochester - "untitled image" • Peter Aschoff - "untitled image" • Markus Spiske - "untitled image" • Pexels - "canyon night stars"