The Multicultural Student Services Center named Mitchell Foster as its interim director Monday. 

Jordan West, the associate vice provost of the Office for Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement, said in an email to student organizations affiliated with the MSSC that Foster will start the role Tuesday. Foster currently serves as an assistant director for equity and assessment in Campus Living and Residential Education and takes the helm of the MSSC following the sudden resignation of former director Dustin Pickett earlier this month. 

Foster worked with the MSSC to debut the center’s LGBTQ+ resource room and acquire student feedback about an LGBTQ+ affinity space coming next fall, according to the email. In the “coming days,” officials will share updates on measures to support students and student organizations, increase long-term staffing and search for a permanent director, which is scheduled to launch this week, West said.

“Mitchell thrives when it comes to building community and healthy relationships,” West said in the email. “Mitchell is a close partner to the MSSC and ODECE, and has been actively working with the MSSC on programming and different initiatives.”

Pickett’s resignation left only one full time staff member at the MSSC, leaving students and former staff concerned about its continuous staff turnover and funding challenges. The center has since added Robert Zayd KiaNouri-Zigmund as the center’s graduate assistant for religious and spiritual life, according to MSSC’s staff page.