https://studentaffairs.calpoly.edu/diversity
Student Affairs Diversity and Inclusion believes every person has the right to feel welcomed, respected and valued at Cal Poly. Together with its campus partners, Student Affairs aims to create campus communities that reflect the diverse population of our state, and provide equity, access and opportunities for all students, faculty and staff. As a division, it acknowledges that history includes examples of both formal and informal structures, policies, and practices that have limited or excluded opportunities for individuals or groups of people. While efforts have been made to address these inequities, the impact of these structures continues to exist.
https://culture.calpoly.edu/home
Student Diversity & Belonging is a collective of campus resource programs and centers that support and empower students experiencing marginalization, through intersectional advocacy and cultural connections to build a more just and equitable Cal Poly community.
Campus Programs and Centers
Black Academic Excellence Center
The Black Academic Excellence Center (BAEC) is committed to supporting the advancement and excellence of Black students and Black student groups within the Cal Poly community. By fostering an inclusive environment, providing academic support, and promoting a Black excellence, its goal is to empower Black students to take full advantage of all the opportunities presented at Cal Poly while actively engaging with Black history and culture.
Dream Center
https://dreamcenter.calpoly.edu/
The Dream Center offers a safe, inclusive space for all undocumented students, those from mixed-status families, and their allies. The Center maintains the confidentiality of individual students while fostering a welcoming community environment that aligns with the university’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. The Dream Center offers a range of programs and services to educate the campus community and support undocumented students’ access, persistence, graduation, and post-graduate pursuits.
Gender Equity Center
As a part of Student Diversity and Belonging, the Gender Equity Center (GEC) welcomes and supports people of all genders and experiences to cultivate a brave space where they can learn and grow together. Through social justice-based education, programming, and community-building, the GEC’s work centers students of marginalized genders, including those who are womxn, feminine-of-center, trans, and/or nonbinary.
Men and Masculinities Program
https://masculinities.calpoly.edu/
As a part of Student Diversity and Belonging, the Men and Masculinities Program engages the Cal Poly Community with the purpose of creating spaces to critically evaluate expressions of masculinities, their intersections, and men’s health and wellbeing. The Men and Masculinities Program is also home to the Men of Color Success initiative which aims to increase retention and graduation rates for men of color through identity exploration, holistic development through cultural affirmation, and “brave space” communities.
Multicultural Center
https://multicultural.calpoly.edu/
As a part of Student Diversity and Belonging, the MultiCultural Center (MCC) is dedicated to the retention and success of historically underserved students. It is a communal space that is committed to serving the holistic development of our campus' student body, by providing programs and services that: engage students in their identity exploration and development through critical self-reflection and dialogue, center and celebrate the voices and experiences of underrepresented students, and cultivate a sense of belonging through community building, mentorship, and intersectional learning.
Pride Center
As a part of Student Diversity and Belonging, the Pride Center supports and empowers students of all sexualities, gender identities, and expressions (SOGIE) to strengthen and unite the Cal Poly community. Within its mission the Pride Center supports and advocates for the unique academic and developmental needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual/aromantic, pansexual, non-binary and non-conforming students to promote personal growth and success. The Pride Center designs programs that emphasize holistic identity development, promote individual and community health and wellbeing, and education through an intersectional lens.
LatinX Initiatives
https://culture.calpoly.edu/home
The Latinx Center aims to create an environment that fosters belonging, empowers Latinx students to thrive, and provides them holistic support. In turn, the center will offer Latinx students the opportunity to gather and build community while exploring their cultures, histories and traditions. The Latinx Center also hosts Heritage month programs, including the State of Latinx each fall, as well as dialogue, panel and speaker series throughout the year that are rooted in the diverse needs and experiences of Latinx students. Educational experiences like these will provide everyone in the Cal Poly community opportunities to learn about the Latinx student experience.
Native Center
https://culture.calpoly.edu/home
The Native American and Indigenous Cultural Center (NAICC) provides a community gathering space featuring mentorship opportunities, academic support, beading and basket weaving workshops, and an Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebration. The center hosts Native and Indigenous Heritage Month programs, speaker series, decolonial healing workshops, dialogues and book circles, art and dance presentations, film series and a commencement reception. NAICC is an intertribal space that fosters partnerships with Cal Poly’s American Indian Student Association (AISA), American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), American Indian and Indigenous Faculty and Staff Association, University Housing and Academic Affairs, as well as the yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini Northern Chumash Tribe and other local and statewide tribes.