Junior Bel Aldrett grew up surrounded by ethnic diversity. In her home town of Los Angeles, Aldrett, a Mexican-American, said most people were Hispanic, but many other cultures were represented.

She said, upon arriving at SPU her freshman year, she experienced a "culture shock" due to the fact that she was a minority on a predominantly white campus.

"Other minority students have similar experiences," she said. "Some people have never lived in a place where everyone around them doesn't look or talk like them."

To adjust to life on the SPU campus Aldrett joined the MOSAIC club and cadre. In MOSAIC, Aldrett said she found a safe place where she could discuss issues of cultural and ethnic diversity with other students interested in issues of diversity.

"In MOSAIC, we recognize cultural and ethnic differences and find ways in which we can learn from diversity and differences," Aldrett said. "I don't want my culture to blend in. I want it to be recognized."

When Joe Snell, former assistant director of Student Programs and director of Intercultural Affairs, decided to leave his position at SPU this past summer, intercultural programs, including MOSAIC, were left with no single person to oversee them. Snell's absence also left the role of an on-staff contact person for ethnic minority students empty. Snell had been working with ethnic minority students on campus for six years.

With 20 percent of this year's freshman class being ethnic minorities, not having anyone in Snell's role has been difficult, Jeff Jordan, dean of Student Life, said.

"The history Joe [Snell] has for the support of ethnic minority students is missed," Jordan said. "Not having a go-to person [for ethnic minority students] is difficult."

Jordan and his staff have conducted a national search for someone to fill the new director of Multi-ethnic Programs position at SPU.

The director of Multi-ethnic Programs will develop programs that promote multi-ethnic awareness and reconciliation at SPU, according to the job description for the position.

Roughly 15 people applied for the job and they are now in the process of bringing the finalists for the job to campus for an on-site interview, Jordan said.

"Having someone in that position as soon as possible is ideal for everyone's sake, especially the students'," he said. He is aiming to have someone hired by January.

In the university's search for a director of Multi-ethnic Programs, Jordan said the hiring committee brought together 15 students in leadership roles of multi-ethnic clubs and organizations to see what they are looking for in a person to fill this role.

"Students want a person who is able to relate to the experience of being a minority student on a predominately white campus," Abigail Stahl, ASSP intercultural director, said. Students are looking for someone who will take their concerns seriously and advocate for them, she said.

"These desires sound simple, but when put into context they are significant things that need to be looked at," Jordan said. "We are not looking for someone to do all the work, but someone who will lead the efforts across campus."

The director of Multi-ethnic programs needs to be someone who can quickly understand the culture of SPU and the systems of the university students must work through, Stahl said.

The systems that the director must help students navigate through range from lines at Gwinn Commons to financial aid and to the Student Counseling Center, Jordan said.

"The person must know the limitations of the university and help students understand them and work through them," Jordan said.

Having no one to fill the role for fall quarter did not make intercultural programs less important to the university and did not leave ethnic minority students abandoned, Jordan said.

Staff members from departments across campus, including Residence Life, the John Perkins Center and Undergraduate Admissions, came together in what Jordan called a "patchwork quilt" to fill the different roles Snell played on campus for ethnic Minority students.

"Many people came together and said that this work is too important to let anything drop," Jordan said. "Staff members are doing their best to make sure people are covered and warm."

At the beginning of the year, MOSAIC president Aldrett said she was overwhelmed by the work that would be required of her for the club with Snell gone.

"I didn't want to take on the responsibility of picking up the pieces," she said.

To assist in this year's transition, Caenisha Warren and Erin Hitchcock of the John Perkins Center volunteered to be the club's advisers for fall quarter.

"I wanted to make sure the ball didn't drop," Warren said. "This [MOSAIC] is a big venue for students to come together to talk about big and important issues."

Warren said her main concern in taking on the adviser role was ensuring the student leaders of the club felt supported and encouraged in their work.

"Students are at an important stage in life where they need people to turn to for support," she said.

"We would be lost without them," Aldrett said of Warren and Hitchcock. "They are the backbone of MOASIC."

When the director of Multi-ethnic is hired he or she will take over the role of MOSAIC adviser, Warren said. However, she added that the new director will have a great support in all of the people who stepped up to lead the Multi-ethnic Programs for this quarter.

The staff leaders and the new director must further the work that Snell and student leaders have started with ethnic diversity at SPU, Warren said.

"We're in a good starting place," she said. "We need to develop more of an understanding of diversity campus wide, though. This is an ongoing process, not an overnight thing.