A large group of students, staff and faculty from the University of San Diego attended the 24th Annual National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE) held in San Francisco from May 31 – June 5, 2011. The United Front Multicultural Center (UFMC) coordinated the experience for USD students and encouraged participants to bring ideas back to USD.

NCORE is designed to provide a forum for discussion, critical dialogue and exchange of information as institutions search for effective strategies to enhance access, social development, education, positive communication and cross-cultural understanding in culturally diverse settings. Many universities across the country sponsor students, faculty and staff in order to gain diverse knowledge on policy, planning and pedagogical perspectives related to multiculturalism. Specific programs and curricula aimed at improving cross-cultural understanding on campus are also sought after by centers such as the United Front Multicultural Center.

Programs such as the Link Peer Mentoring have been successfully created on campus thanks to NCORE and the students who brought the idea to USD. First time attendee and UFMC student staff member, Jessica Gomes, left San Francisco energized and excited about what she had learned. "A highlight for me was a session about the intersectionality of sexual liberation and racial justice. It really helped me define what I have been seeing at USD and the United Front but never understood." Ms. Gomes, a McNair Scholar, is now working on research that is looking at the correlation between colorblind racial attitudes and students' campus climate perceptions.

- G. Adam Serrano, Class of 2012