MSA Archives Project
Background
During the 2018-2019 academic year Multicultural Student Affairs began a organizational transformation. It became clear to us that before we plan for the future, we have to know where we've been- as a collective. In the summer of 2018, the MSA staff visited Charla Wilson, the Archivist for the Black Experience at Northwestern University. The team began to review documents related to the many communities that MSA serves. The archives visit confirmed what many of us already knew, that MSA has a rich and vast history and that it must be told.
Mission
The mission of the MSA Archive Project is to learn and share Multicultural Student Affairs' history with our Northwestern University community.
The Vision
With the partnership of MSA student employees, staff and the University Archives, MSA will:- Establish a timeline detailing the establishment of Multicultural Student Affairs
- Identify artifacts that support the timeline (documents, news articles, videos, etc)
- Complete interviews to learn from and with community members who contributed to this history
- Develop an accessible online archive to share MSA's history
- Create opportunities for ongoing development of the project
A Letter from the Director
Dear MSA Community,
It is with much excitement that I share information about Multicultural Student Affairs' Archival Project. Beginning in Winter 2019, MSA student employee Austin Gardner and myself partnered with Charla Wilson the Archivist for the Black Experience at Northwestern University, in an effort to learn more about MSA's history. The projected continued over Summer 2019 with Elynnor Sandefer and Sayeed Sanchez and Archive Interns. With roots established in African American Student Affairs, Asian American Student Affairs, Latino/a Student Affairs, LGBTQ Student Affairs, Native & Indigenous Student Affairs and others, we know our history is rich, vast, and runs deep. The intentions of the MSA Archival Project is to learn and share our history with our Northwestern University community. We know that our history comes with a lot of pride, challenges, and questions, and we intend to address it humbly and authentically. Alumni, current students, families and community members at large have been a part of the MSA story. Your stories deserve to be told, your names deserve to be known, and this history deserves to be preserved.
- Develop a timeline detailing the establishment of Multicultural Student Affairs
- Identify artifacts that support the timeline (documents, news articles, videos, etc)
- Complete interviews to learn from and with community members who contributed to this history
- Develop an accessible online archive to share MSA's history
As the project progresses we invite you to support this work by:
- Sharing any of your supporting documents (photos, documents, etc.)
- Volunteer to be interviewed
In solidarity,
Daviree L. Velazquez Phillip