The first Black Student Union formed early in the school’s history. MCC’s population in the first few years was predominately made up of white students, but that did not stop organizations such as the American Indian Center from growing.
Minorities on campus have grown through time
Dalton Walker
Mesa Legend
In 1963, about 90 percent of 600 students attending MCC were white, according to then student President F. Rockne “Roc” Arnett.
Out of 27,834 enrolled students for the fall 2004 semester, 26 percent were minorities attending MCC.
Betty O’Neill has been working at MCC library for 30 years and she said when she first started at MCC, the school was predominately a Mormon school.
“Southern wasn’t even paved back then; we went from rural to urban,” O’Neill said. “Today, with more students we have more diversity.” The minority numbers are growing and many programs are available for minority students.
The American Indian Center formally began in the fall of 1985, while Multicultural Services started in 1989. The Black Student Union, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan or M.E.Ch.A., and Asian-Pacific Islanders Club, all fall under the Multicultural Services.
Nina Robinson is the director of Multicultural Services. She started working at MCC in August of 1989, as a student activity director and seven years later became the Multicultural Services director.
Robinson stressed that minorities have a harder time adjusting to secondary education because most students are first generation students.
“A first generation college student might be frustrated at first because they have no idea,” Robinson said. “It’s very easy to get lost.” This is where her office helps develop students who are having a hard time adjusting.
“We help students with financial aid, advisement, and increase programming,” said Robinson. Bo Colbert, director of the American Indian Center helped develop an American Indian fact sheet to explain the expansion of Indian enrollment at MCC.
According to an American Indian fact sheet, MCC has the highest American Indian enrollment out of the 10 Maricopa community colleges, with 834 enrolled, consisting of 18 different Indian tribes.
The American Indian Center and the Multicultural Services Office are located next to the Kirk Student Center, and according Robinson, all cultures are welcome.
“We are a student resource to help through the educational system,” Robinson said.
