Multicultural Development

Looking for a way to become an FGCU student leader? The Multicultural Ambassadors Program (MAP) is a great way to do so! Students who are given the title of MAP are selected through an application and interview process and are highly trained to facilitate conversations and trainings on diverse topics.  Selected students represent diverse cultures, geography, sexual-orientations, gender identities, ethnicities, and majors. MAP students serve as advisors, mentors, facilitators, and representatives of the FGCU community.

Event Spotlight

Diversity YOUniversity
Held during Weeks of Welcome, Diversity YOUniversity is an event to welcome students back to the university. During this event we celebrate the different cultures that are represented at FGCU and allow for students to network with individuals from different university departments to learn about resources and individuals available to them that can assist in mentorship and assistance throughout the year.

Hispanic Heritage Month
Hispanic Heritage Month is nationally recognized from September 15 – October 15. In observance we host several programs to celebrate the Latinx culture such as Latinx Gala, keynote speakers, and films that have been written and/or directed by Latinx people or star or are about people of Latinx background. During this month of events we focus on the contributions of Latinx individuals and their contributions to the Hispanic culture and the world as a whole.

Pride Week / National Coming Out Day
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender History Month is October. In the past, this month has been highlighted with a film festival and noted speakers Judy Shepherd. The focus programs that support students and the campus community that reflect the richness of the GLBT community and its positive impact on our society.

AIDS Awareness
Designed to raise awareness about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS, AIDS Awareness Month places special focus on a disease with a yet undiscovered cure. December 1 has been designated as World AIDS awareness day in an effort to link countries together to increase education and eradicate this fatal disease.

Passover Seder
A Jewish ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. The Seder is a ritual performed by a community or by multiple generations of a family, involving a retelling of the story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt.

Black History Month
The Multicultural Leadership Development Center staff along with student organizations and community groups host a variety of events that highlight Black culture, history and tradition. These events include plays, music, cultural dances, conferences, and a lecture series.

Chinese New Year Celebration
Also known as the Spring Festival, Chinese New Year celebrations traditionally ran from Chinese New Year's Eve, the last day of the last month of the Chinese calendar, to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month, making the festival the longest in the Chinese calendar.

Women's History Month
Celebrating the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. The purpose of Women’s History Month is to increase the knowledge of the contributions of notable and ordinary women.

Holocaust Remembrance
Honoring and remembering victims, survivors, and their families of the Holocaust. In Hebrew, Holocaust Remembrance day is called "Yom Hashoah".

The Basement Series and Podcast

The Basement Series is a monthly event that provides faculty, staff, and students the opportunity to discuss current topics in the media or special topics our presenters are interested in teaching. We invite our presenters to join us during our podcast to provide similar context from their presentation to those that may not have been able to attend the Basement in person. The podcast is released every Tuesday via Eagle Radio and includes other conversations and guests from other trending topics.

MLD Film Series 

The film series was created to give the FGCU community an opportunity to learn about diverse topics and historical events via multimedia. Every month there is a film showing followed by a debrief and question and answer period. Films vary from biopics to fiction.

Come Thru Sessions

Come Thru sessions are an informal conversation that we have in the center based on topics that are brought up by our students. These sessions are meant to provide advice and safe space for different events or experiences happening in our lives. Sessions have been on professionalism, love, relationships, anxiety and mental health, birth chart readings and many more.