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Center for Intercultural Student Development

At Calvin, we want to be known as an inclusive environment, where all students feel a sense of belonging. One way that we do this is through the programs designed and implemented by the Center for Intercultural Student Development (CISD).

Our Mission

To inspire, challenge, and equip our community to engage in intentional and redemptive cultural interactions and student development . We primarily serve domestic students of color, international students, first generation students through specific multicultural programming and student leadership development. By supporting students in this way, we serve the entire Calvin ecosystem to think deeply, act justly and live wholeheartedly as Christ’s agents of renewal in the world.

Core Values

  1. Cultivate a space of belonging and thriving: We are committed to cultivating a deep sense of belonging and thriving within our student populations so that they can be agents of change at Calvin and beyond. A large component of this work will be done through student leadership development.
  2. Anti-Racism- acknowledge and resist racial injustice and xenophobia in attitudes, practices, and systems within Calvin and beyond. We seek to do this within our Christian witness and by utilizing educational best practices.
  3. Relevant Educational Programming. We commit to developmentally appropriate and culturally relevant co-curricular educational programming that increases cultural self-awareness, cultural understanding and appreciation within the student populations we serve and also among the entire student body. These include but are not limited to Unlearn Week, International Education Week, Black History Month and additional Heritage month celebrations, and population specific programming.

Our Goals

  • Nurture students through the process of discovering the knowledge of God, the world and themselves.
  • Create opportunities for cross cultural engagement and exchange.
  • Build a knowledge base which critically examines the sin of racism and prejudice and its impact on our society.
  • Serve as a springboard for emerging multicultural American, International, Perkins Fellows and First generation student leadership in all facets of the Calvin community (spiritual, academic, and social).
  • Support the university's strategies for diversity as stated in the From Every Nation document.
  • Help students develop and utilize their voice.

We are committed to providing a safe and accepting environment for students here at Calvin.

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