Office of Intercultural & International Life
Mission Statement

For over 25 years, the Office of Intercultural & International Life has been an integral part of Carleton’s initiatives to enhance diversity and cultivate a fully inclusive community, enriched by persons of different ethnicities, nationalities, genders, economic backgrounds, ages, abilities, sexual orientations, and spiritual values. The primary mission of the Office of Intercultural & International Life is to provide programming that fosters intercultural dialogue in the service of greater cross-cultural awareness, empathy, mutual respect, tolerance, and recognition.

This goal is inextricably linked to the other dimensions of our mission that include:

• to ensure that members of under-represented ethnic groups have the space, visibility, and participation in institutional decisions necessary to sustain their full inclusion
• to help students of color identify and navigate the issues they may encounter at Carleton as members of under-represented ethnic groups on a predominantly white campus
• to assist students of color in their adjustment, satisfaction and persistance toward attainment of their educational goals.
• to enhance the social awareness of the Carleton community with regards to the histories, life experiences, and political-economic issues of the diverse ethnic groups on campus and in the larger global community
• to diminish the levels of racism and related forms of discrimination such as sexism and homophobia as they are manifest on our campus
• to enhance the capacity of all students, faculty, and staff to lead and work collaboratively in diverse groups

The Office of Intercultural & International Life works to fulfill this mission through sponsoring guest speakers, cultural performances, art exhibits, discussion forums, and films. The office also maintains a small library, publishes an office newsletter, and supports a peer-mentoring program.