Mentors Advocating for Cultural Connection (MACC) Pioneers

The Office for Inclusive Excellence proudly sponsors the Mentors Advocating for Cultural Connection (MACC Pioneers) initiative through the Multicultural Affairs department. MACC Pioneers provides students with peer-to-peer mentorship, community building and personal development. We provide these skills through three programs: Momentum, Sagrado Corazon and Umoja.

Momentum

The MACC Pioneers Momentum Program is a peer-to-peer and student-to-professional mentoring program. The program is designed to connect first-year students (including transfer students) who have diverse identities and backgrounds with peers and professionals who have similar identities. Undergraduate students are paired with upper-level undergraduate students. Graduate students are paired with staff and faculty. The upper-level students and professional mentors are called "connectors" who help students navigate their first year at SHU. The connectors share skills and strategies for successfully navigating the SHU academic, social and cultural journey as well as the post-graduation world.

Throughout the academic year, connectors and mentees will build academic strengths, experience a community of peer/professional support, and develop meaningful relationships that support transformative academic, career, and life skills development. First-year mentees will gain a stronger sense of campus belonging, strengthen their academic expertise and build long-term connections within the campus community through:

  • Informal community-building activities
  • Cultural festivities
  • Skills development intensives
  • Academic workshops
  • Career advisement
  • Leadership development
  • Connections with campus leadership
  • Faculty and academic partners

Umoja & Sagrado Corazon

MACC Pioneers Umoja (Swahili for unity) and Sagrado Corazon (Spanish for Sacred Heart) serve as identity-based cultural celebration and communal mentoring programs. Both programs provide student support and cultural programming designed to enhance the experiences of Black (Umoja) and Hispanic/Latin American (Sagrado Corazon) students. Our overarching goal is to increase strategic identity-based support to positively impact the sense of belonging, retention, progression and graduation rates of participating students.

Umoja and Sagrado Corazon seek to create access to the following:

  • Cultural Celebration through programs and events
  • Academic support that considers cultural and other intersecting identities
  • Culturally Relevant wellness support and resources
  • Leadership development
  • A community of students (both undergraduate and graduate), staff and faculty who identify with Black and/or Latin American identities