About the Intercultural Center
The 2024 IC seniors pose with staff at the end-of-the-year Awards & Banquet event.
Mission
The Intercultural Center (IC) engages and empowers our community through advocacy, dialogue, and support networks to influence campus culture and promote inclusivity and identity consciousness.
Vision
The Intercultural Center actively strives to advance an inclusive community through affirming and engaging our differences, intersectionalities, and interconnectedness.
History
Established in 1992, the IC was created as a result of student activism aimed at securing increased administrative support of, and commitment to, Students of Color and Queer students at Swarthmore College. Since that time, the IC has come to comprise an ever-expanding group of students, including South Asian, Multiracial, International, Muslim, and low-income and first generation college students. We strive to foster a truly multicultural social, cultural, and intellectual environment that will empower students to achieve their educational and individual goals. The IC offers an array of programs and services designed to meet the needs of these groups individually and collectively.
In September 2016, President Valerie Smith announced that a major gift from James Hormel '55 and Michael Nguyen '08 would establish the James Hormel and Michael Nguyen Intercultural Center at Sproul Hall. The renovated space opened in fall 2018 and brings an expanded Intercultural Center together with the International Student Center and the Interfaith Center, including the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, under one roof in the heart of campus.
Programming
The IC supports the exploration of diverse heritages, political perspectives and social and cultural experiences by offering a wide range of co-curricular activities and programs throughout the academic year. Including, but not limited:
