When students tell Vanice Antrum that the Multicultural Student Services Center has been their lifeline, she takes it as proof that her first year as director is making a difference.
Antrum assumed the role of MSSC director at the start of the 2024-25 academic year, following a period marked by years of staff turnover, structural changes within the center and student allegations that the University’s top leaders had censored events, along with reports of limited autonomy within the center. In her first year at the helm, Antrum said she has made it a priority to “meet students where they are,” weaving their feedback into the center’s operations to restore stability and create a stronger sense of support at the MSSC.
“This is the Multicultural Student Services Center, so we want to make sure that they are at the center of all the work we do,” Antrum said.
Last spring, Antrum added five extra community dinners to the center’s schedule after learning that students were running out of meal swipes before the end of the academic year, bringing the total number to seven for the semester. She also increased the frequency of office hours for other GW offices housed in the center, including the Center for Career Services and the Office for Student Outreach and Support, responding directly to student requests for more accessible resources and support.
Antrum also said she’s made a point of being visible and approachable, often sitting in the living room area of the University Student Center’s fifth floor and striking up conversations with anyone who stops by.
“For students, I think just me being here, whether it’s early in the morning or late at night, I think they know that I’m going to be here to support them, and I think having that familiar face has been helpful in providing that stability,” Antrum said.
Antrum took the helm of the 57-year-old multicultural center after Dustin Pickett resigned after a year on the job, resulting in a two–month-long period where the center had only one full-time staff member.
Pickett’s departure was not the first time the center had been left short on staff. Former MSSC Director Michael Tapscott said in 2024 the center had been facing low staffing levels since 2019, when three administrators left their positions, and officials removed two coordinator roles from the center’s previously five-person full-time staff.
Antrum said she has worked to create a collaborative environment at the MSSC, kicking off her first week with a staff development day and emphasizing the importance of listening to every idea, giving staff “an actual seat at the table” in decision-making to help foster retention.
Antrum added that she hopes to expand the MSSC’s staff in the coming years, and officials are working to hire a new assistant director. Officials hired Hannah Youssef as the center’s assistant director alongside Antrum in August 2024, but she was no longer listed on the center’s website by mid-November 2024.
The center currently has three non-student staff members, but the website does not list any current student staffers. At one point in 2020 the MSSC had eight staffers — including graduate and undergraduate students — according to web archives.
In the wake of Pickett’s departure in February 2024, students worried the center’s autonomy from the University would shrink, and his departure would foil the center’s ability to support cultural student organizations. Students involved with the center also raised concerns about growing censorship at MSSC events since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, particularly regarding what could be discussed about the war in Gaza and issues related to Palestine.
Antrum said she has never felt any kind of censorship from officials when planning events, noting that the center has continued to host major traditions like Queer Prom, one of its largest annual events.
Officials also removed one of the center’s core branches focused on supporting religious and faith-based organizations and students at GW in June 2024 and created a separate Center for Interfaith and Spiritual Life, which now hosts University-wide programming, like Interfaith Week, which previously fell under the MSSC.
Antrum said the MSSC still acts as a “catch all” for cultural and religious services. She said the MSSC has partnered with CISL during religious holidays over the past year, and the MSSC itself has a non-denominational prayer and meditation space for student use. Antrum added that the MSSC works with religious and spiritual leaders, like University chaplain Kristen Glass Perez, to help coordinate events.
“While we might not directly do interfaith and religious programming, it is important for me to have a relationship with the center so that I can support students in getting access to that resource the same way we would with the Career Center, the same way we would with, you know, student outreach and support,” Antrum said.
The MSSC is one of the five divisions of the Office for Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement, which halted its search for a new vice provost — a position that has sat vacant since July 2024 — as the University reevaluates the position within the context of GW’s new strategic framework and changing federal guidance on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
University President Ellen Granberg in October said the University was consulting its general counsel on inclusivity efforts as officials conduct a review of GW’s DEI policies to determine whether changes are necessary to comply with federal anti-discrimination and civil rights laws.
Antrum said in light of President Donald Trump’s targeting of DEI at universities across the country, she’s looking at other institutions and professional development resources to learn what the center “needs to be doing” to support students from all backgrounds. She did not specify whether this means the center has implemented any changes in response to DEI rollbacks.
“I think just keeping at the core that the MSSC is here for all GW students, I think that there is always this misnomer that we only serve a certain population,” Antrum said. “You could come in here at any time of day and see students from all different backgrounds.”
Claire Avalos, the president of OLAS — one of six student organizations Antrum oversees — said having her as the organization’s adviser this year has been a “big relief” because as the leader of the MSSC, Antrum knows how to support diverse groups, as opposed to the group’s past advisers who were faculty and GW staff.
“In the past, I think we’ve gotten assigned a faculty member or someone who works at the University who wasn’t as in touch with student needs, especially for student orgs,” Avalos said.
Avalos said Antrum has been a communicative advisor, exchanging phone numbers when they first met and helping Avalos understand how to navigate difficult student organization policies and changes over the last year.
“Some things have come up last minute with making requests, and she’s like, ‘I got you, I’ll handle it, I’m on your side,’” Avalos said. “And she’s always pulled through for us, and it’s been really helpful.”
Thomas Morningstar, the president of the Transgender and Non-Binary Students of GW, said Antrum has brought consistency to the center, serving as a steady presence in the MSSC after years of turnover and varying staffing levels. They said relationships between TNBS and the MSSC struggled when there was higher staff turnover because there wasn’t consistent support from the same officials.
“The MSSC, and especially Vanice, have done a massive job in creating reasonability and rebuilding relationships,” they said.
The president of the Muslim Students’ Association, who requested anonymity due to safety concerns, said the organization frequently uses the MSSC’s resources and space on the fifth floor of the USC for general body meetings and other events.
“Our organization is made up of members from many different races, ethnicities, and backgrounds, and the MSSC is one of those key places on campus where a lot of our members feel safe and not judged,” they said in a text message.
