The University of Wisconsin Multicultural Student Center exists to support students of color and historically underserved students on campus. Located in the Red Gym, the MSC supports students in many ways — from funding for student organizations and cultural programming to internship opportunities.
The MSC has seen a large increase in attendance in recent years, according to MSC Assistant Director of Operations & Outreach Prisma Ruacho. As a result, the center has added two new internships — one is a position focused on multicultural programming, and the other is a Middle Eastern and North African Heritage Month Chair.
While operations interns and programming interns for each identity center within the MSC and Heritage Month Chair are recurring positions, the center had room to expand this year.
According to Ruacho, the increased number of positions is a result of a growing use of MSC resources, and she believes the MSC will continue to grow as students keep building relationships with the MSC due to an influx of new perspectives and new people, as well as a daily presence.
“We’ve had such growth of attendance in the MSC — within three years, we had a foot traffic growth of over 14,000 people and a lot of increases in reservations,” Ruacho said. “The new interns and the large team are all contributing in their own ways to the functions of the MSC.”
Most of the interns are first or second-year students who help the MSC follow campus interests and trends, Ruacho said.
“I think all of these new interns have the opportunity to help us to understand the younger generation because they’re all coming in as first and second-year students,” Ruacho said.
“[They will be] getting to know each other and sharing the new things that are happening on campus because every year the students have a different experience.”
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According to Ruacho, operations interns focus on ensuring the MSC and any events held in the building run smoothly. This includes running the front desk, ensuring reserved rooms are ready for their events and welcoming people who come into the space.
Programming interns create events for the identity centers. Heritage Month Chairs run meetings, set the agenda for their Heritage Month and implement all of the MSC events, Ruacho said. There is also an MSC Grant Specialist who oversees the distribution of funds, a Student Organization Specialist who communicates with student organizations and ensures they are able to be affiliated with the MSC and a communications team.
Interviews for internships at MSC are conducted at the end of every school year, Ruacho said.
