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MOSAIC

 

Students clean up the New River

MOSAIC, the Multicultural Opportunity Social Awareness Interest Community, is an intercultural living environment that embraces all types of diversity and will be offered to students beginning with the 2007-2008 academic year. The community encourages students to engage in dialogue about social justice and diversity in a shared academic and residential environment and provides tools that enable students to move beyond tolerance to understand and empathize with people of different backgrounds.

Students take a required three-credit course in which they can learn from each other about the individual effects of racism, ageism, homophobia, religious intolerance, and other forms of discriminatory behavior. Members of the MOSAIC community also participate in bi-weekly residence hall programs, community-building efforts, service learning projects, faculty mentoring programs, and activities pertaining to diversity and social justice.

Students recruit volunteers at VT Engage community service event

MOSAIC members participate in activities such as group dinners and ice cream socials, cultural exploration trips and campus celebrations for various religions, and visiting speaker seminars. They also complete service projects with the English Language Institute Conversation Partners, Roanoke Rescue Mission, the Boys and Girls Club, and make environmental clean-up trips to the New River.

MOSAIC houses a diverse group of first-year and returning students to encourage collaboration and a broad range of perspectives. The community is open to all on-campus residents and will be located on the first eight floors of Slusher Tower.

 

MOSAIC was developed at the recommendation of the Commission on Equal Opportunity and Diversity to address questions about the namesake of Lee Hall in 2004 and as a result of student requests for a diversity-focused housing community. The university’s recent effort to emphasize the importance of diversity at Virginia Tech also led to the development of the Virginia Tech Principles of Community, a statement affirming the university's commitment to a diverse and inclusive community, which will be an important component of MOSAIC’s educational mission.

mosaic logo

 

This project is the result of cooperation between the Office of Equity and Inclusion and the Office of Student Programs with support from the Offices of the President and the Provost. Other university departments contributing to MOSAIC include the Virginia Tech Service Learning Center, Center for Academic Excellence and Enrichment, Multicultural Programs and Services, Department of Religon and Culture and Pathways for Learning.

 

Apply to MOSAIC using our secure server

 

Course Information

Students participating in MOSAIC must take the three-credit course, Learning About Diversity and Social Justice, during the fall semester. 

Contact Information

Contact Susanna Rinehart at (540) 231-8596 or themevt@vt.edu with questions about MOSAIC. For questions relating to housing and assignments, please contact housing@vt.edu.

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