Intercultural Diversity Solid Support and Expansive Offerings 
Skidmore actively seeks and warmly welcomes the energy and scope that
diversity brings to our campus community. In return, intercultural life
here offers a rich and lively mix of the academic, cultural, and social.
It’s buoyed by a positive campus environment and a steadily growing
number of students, faculty, and administrators from different racial,
cultural, religious, socioeconomic, and ethnic backgrounds, as well as
sexual orientation. Clearly, we are making progress, and this momentum
makes Skidmore a dynamic place. “We, like many schools, are in the early stages of creating a truly intercultural space,” says Jack T.F. Ling, Skidmore’s director of institutional diversity. “We are still struggling with who we want to be. It takes a lot of courage and a lot of work, but we can and do talk about challenging and difficult differences, on both the heart and head levels. To me, that’s quite significant. “Of course, we continue to be mindful of the need to address multicultural issues and we’ve chosen to fold these efforts into the larger goal of creating a diverse and inclusive campus environment where interactions between people and groups can occur in a robust manner.” Support for a Culturally Diverse Student Community The Office of Multicultural Student Affairs provides a wide range of services for African-American, Latino, Asian-American, and Native-American (ALANA) students. A pre-orientation program introduces first-year students to campus and to the history of ALANA cultures in Saratoga Springs. Each new ALANA student is connected to an upperclass ALANA mentor and is encouraged to consider programs such as a collaborative faculty-student research opportunity for identified ALANA students who have demonstrated high academic motivation. In 2001 the Intercultural Center opened in Case Center, the crossroads of community activity at Skidmore. To promote dialogue and interaction among different groups of people, the center’s programs, workshops, seminars, and exhibits encourage members of the campus community to meet and learn from each other, and in the process, to establish meaningful relationships. Skidmore’s Office of Institutional Diversity helps set and monitor policies promoting the College’s goal of creating a genuinely intercultural campus community that encourages pride and respect for different nationalities, racial and ethnic backgrounds, socioeconomic classes, ages and physical abilities, and religious, political, and sexual orientations. Skidmore’s academic program offers many courses on non-Western civilizations and perspectives and requires every student to take courses in non-Western culture and foreign language. (As a handy resource, the Office of Institutional Diversity annually produces Skidmore’s Guide to Culture-Centered Courses.) Students are encouraged to probe assumptions, seek out voices rarely heard, and share the perspectives of African-American, Latino, Asian-American, Native-American, and other world views. The Higher Education Opportunity and Academic Opportunity Programs (HEOP/AOP) recruit, admit, and support students with strong academic and personal potential who would otherwise be excluded from higher education due to academic and economic disadvantages. Significantly, Skidmore’s HEOP/AOP students perform academically as well or better than their classes in general and have a higher-than-average graduation rate. Thanks to the Office of International Programs, approximately 40 percent of Skidmore students study abroad in Skidmore-run programs in London, Paris, Madrid and Alcala (Spain), India, and Beijing, as well as through dozens of affiliated and non-affiliated programs. The College also offers the opportunity to take a semester or full-year program at other schools in the U.S. The Career Network provides a forum for communication and the creation of mentor relationships between Skidmore alumni and students. Organized by Skidmore’s Office of Career Services, the thriving network is 10 years old. The Office of the Chaplain assists students with their religious and spiritual concerns. Assistance includes conducting religious services, organizing speakers or discussion groups on topics of ethical or moral concern, coordinating community service projects, providing resources for studying religious or social issues, and providing individual spiritual counsel. Creative Thought Matters. Skidmore College · 815 North Broadway · Saratoga Springs, NY · 12866
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