MSU multicultural program builds community across differences

Creating connections

Intercultural Aides at MSU live in select residence halls for the purpose of engaging students from all backgrounds in learning opportunities within their living communities. Similar to the Resident Assistant program, Intercultural Aides are a source of support for students transitioning to life on campus and beyond. Aides partner with RAs to foster an inclusive campus climate, supporting student identity development, a sense of belonging and academic success. Compensation for the Intercultural Aide position includes a single room and meal plan for the year.

Between 60 and 70 aides serve in the program every year, mentored and educated throughout the process by MRULE-ICA professional staff. To recruit ICA applicants, Student Affairs and Services staff members reach out to various racial and ethnic student organizations as well as work with campus partners to promote the opportunity to students.

Eduardo Olivo

“The MRULE-ICA program has been a transformational force in the residence halls at Michigan State University,” says Eduardo Olivo, interim associate director for Diversity Equity and Inclusion in REHS. “The depth and authenticity of the learning spaces offered to residents by the MRULE-ICAs is a national best practice. This is one of the very few DEI programs at MSU that combines peer education, dialogue, rigorous scholarship and real-world applications in how the conversations with residents are framed and implemented.”

The selection process occurs during the spring semester prior to the academic year they will serve. Intercultural Aides are hired to perform their roles for one academic year, though students are encouraged to reapply if they are interested in continuing their work.

Dreux Baker

“The MRULE-ICA program allows you to meet new people,” says Thomas Antishin, a 2021 MSU graduate and ICA program alumnus. “I still remember one of the first things my first supervisor in the program said to me was, ‘Every day on Michigan State’s campus, you have the ability to meet someone completely different from you, but how many times do you actually do that?’ By involving yourself in the program, you’re able to have open and honest conversations with people who think completely differently than you.”

“I value supervising in this program because it is such a dynamic, multidisciplinary learning process," says Dreux Baker, an MRULE-ICA supervisor who previously supervised Antishin. "We are building capacity with students, no matter background or major, to become more conscious, engaged citizens of the world.”

Serving the local and global community

In addition to helping form an inclusive community on campus, MRULE-ICA’s mission also aims to connect students with service opportunities both locally and internationally. The MRULE program began a partnership with Detroit’s Neighbors Building Brightmoor in 2011, participating in several projects alongside neighbors to clean, build and maintain community gardens. Lansing’s Village Summit Community Center and Allen Street Neighborhood Center have also received support from the MRULE-ICA program over the past decade.



With the participation of MSU students through MRULE-ICA and an education abroad program focused on race relations in South Africa, Vumundzuku-Bya Vana/Our Children’s Future in Zonkizizwe opened its doors in 2007. That program provides after-school activities and hot meals to children and youth as well as psychosocial support peer education courses. Since its founding, MRULE-ICA has continued to support the initiative in South Africa, including a pen pal program.

“We think of ourselves as not just a campus community but a campus community and beyond,” says Gazel. “We have our local, our regional and our global community.” 

Working through and beyond the pandemic

The suspension of in-person instruction at MSU in March 2020 due to the rise in COVID-19 cases posed many challenges for the campus community. For a program that thrives on the interpersonal relationships of its students, MRULE-ICA staff and students found ways to keep the connection alive, even remotely.

Thomas Antishin, a 2021 graduate, began working as an Intercultural Aide during the 2018-19 academic year and served as a virtual MRULE facilitator during his final semester at MSU. Despite the various challenges of the pandemic, he says he found the greatest connections made in the Round Table Discussion space were during the virtual sessions.

Thomas Antishin

“The pandemic greatly affected the way ICAs worked,” Antishin says. “We pride ourselves on being able to build genuine relationships across differences, which is hard to do when you cannot meet students face to face. However, I really feel as though the program came together to recognize the challenge that the virtual environment placed on us and developed ways to overcome those challenges.”

Intercultural Aide facilitators worked with MRULE-ICA professional staff to find the best way to present information that would feel engaging and exciting to participants, particularly in a virtual environment. In addition to Round Table Discussions, students connected via social media and online games to continue their conversations.

“It was truly reimagining what a genuine relationship can look like and expanding it to the understanding that interpersonal connection is the primary aspect of it, while physical presence more easily fosters it,” says Antishin.