The Mosaic: The Center for Cultural Diversity

The Mosaic is a center for resources, community building, and staff support, and is a lounge space for UMBC community members of all backgrounds to use for relaxing, programming, small events, and small gatherings. We strive to develop innovative programs & initiatives that celebrate cultural diversity while advocating for inclusion, equity, & social justice.

You can visit the Mosaic to eat lunch, study, & chat with your friends or us, seek any resources you may need, or find a space to rest in between classes. The Mosaic is also designated as an accessible space for prayer, reflection, meditation &/or to pick up a bag from our campus pantry, Retriever Essentials.

We host various events centered around diversity, equity, inclusion, & social justice (DEISJ). We help students find community with peers who are like them and peers who are unlike them. We are also a resource for both undergraduate & graduate students who have questions about race, ethnicity, nationality, and/or citizenship status.

Mission

The Mosaic strives to provide diverse, equitable, and inclusive learning opportunities that center and celebrate racial, ethnic, and national identities. We do this through student identity-based social justice-centered advocacy and programming, intra/intercultural dialogue and storytelling, and community-based gatherings to create a sense of belonging and to empower all UMBC community members to be agents of social change.

History

Opening on February 2, 2004, The Mosaic (Originally named UMBC’s Multicultural Center) is dedicated to creating an environment that supports cross-cultural education and collaboration at UMBC. This space was created out of the work of students, staff, faculty, alumnx, and community partners that saw the need for a student-centered space for cultural learning and identity development after the disbandment of The Office of Multicultural Affairs in the early 2000s. Originally serving as the “central broad diversity office” within the Student Diversity & Inclusion area in Campus Life (Originally named Student Life), The Mosaic now serves as one of three identity-based spaces on campus, focusing on sense of belonging, equity, and inclusion in connection to underrepresented racial, ethnic, and national identities. In the spring of 2022, The Mosaic: Center for Culture and Diversity, was renamed to The Mosaic: Center for Cultural Diversity to further promote the mission of both The Mosaic and i3b and its equal partnership of being 1 of 4 departmental areas.

Today, The Mosaic is composed of a lounge, a student staff work area, and additional interior staff offices. Located in The Commons 2B23, The Mosaic provides guests with a safe, inclusive space to find belonging, create friendship, connect with our staff, engage in prayer, or just a place to study or relax.