History of the Office of Multicultural Affairs

The Office of Multicultural Affairs has a long history at Florida State University. It was originally established in 1972 as the Office of Minority Affairs. The office reported directly the President of the University and was primarily responsible for the implementation of equal employment opportunity and affrimative action laws in employment.

During the mid-1970s, the office was redesignated as the Office of Human Affairs, responsible for the development, implementation, and monitoring of FSU's Affirmative Action Program. In the late 1970s, FSU established the Office of Minority Student Affairs in response to the needs of minority students at FSU. The office's first director was Mr. John Burt.

From the late 1970s through the early 1990s, the Office of Minority Student Affairs sponsored many activities and programs. These included the Black Student Leadership Conference and Unity Day Interfaith Services, desigend to educate students about racial and ethnic diversity on campus, the Multicultural Student Support Center and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship. In addition, the Office of Minority Student Affairs published a monthly newsletter and administered the Black Cultural Center and Horizons Unlimited, an academic retention program.

The Office of Minority Student Affairs greatly expanded its activities and by the mid 1990s, it became the Office of Multicultural Affairs. The second director was Ms. Georgia "Joy" Bowen. In 2006, Dr. Juan R. Guardia became the third director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs. The office is a department within FSU's Division of Student Affairs.