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The Carolyn Barber Pierre Center for Intercultural Life

Welcome to the Carolyn Barber Pierre Center for Intercultural Life. Our mission is to successfully retain underrepresented students throughout their time at the university. Our work goes beyond simply appreciating diversity and increasing awareness. We actively center the experiences and voices of those who have been marginalized, while promoting accountability that changes the campus culture, transforming Tulane into a place where all students can thrive. Our Center includes The Office of Multicultural Affairs, The Office for Gender & Sexual Diversity and Religious Life at Tulane.

The Carolyn Barber Pierre Center for Intercultural Life (CIL)

  1. Serves as a safe haven that was designed for you to be seen, heard, radically loved, and nurtured.

  2. Consistently advocates for your concerns, wants, and needs while helping you navigate challenges you may face

  3. Provides opportunities to demonstrate that Tulane values your identities and contributions as individuals as you share your identities with the world

  4. Engages the entire campus community to invest in a culture of inclusion and equity

  5. Promotes a sense of purpose, personal conviction, and meaningful ways to understand and situate yourself in connection with others in the world

  6. Consults with academic and administrative departments in implementing anti-racist, socially just and equitable policies, programs, and practices transforming Tulane into a place where all students can thrive.

Through our legacy of demonstrated intentional engagement on campus and throughout the New Orleans community, The Carolyn Barber Pierre Center for Intercultural Life will be a key contributor to sustaining equity at Tulane and beyond. Through the collective work of our offices, we will empower all students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners in their pursuit of mutual liberation that counters the effects of colonization, antiBlack racism, and other forms of oppression in our lives, for the sake of our own humanity.

We recognize that Tulane University is located in New Orleans, Louisiana, a place that was once called Bulbancha or place of many tongues before it was known as New Orleans. Indigenous nations and tribal communities of this land include the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana, the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, and the Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe of Louisiana. There are also a number of state-recognized tribes in Louisiana, which include the Biloxi-Chitimacha Confederation of Muskogee, Choctaw-Apache Community, Clifton Choctaw, Four Winds Tribe Louisiana Cherokee Confederacy, the Pointe-Au-Chien Indian Tribe, and the United Houma Nation. Our work is connected to disrupting imperialism by highlighting the past and present counter-narratives about the land and people who were here before the founding of New Orleans.

The Kaleidoscope Residential Learning Community (RLC) is a great opportunity for first year students seeking to live, learn and explore social justice, liberation, and decolonized leadership

The Carolyn Barber Pierre Center for Intercultural Life is a space where members of the Tulane community who need a space to simply be, can come and study, eat, socialize, and connect with student leaders, the CIL staff. Drop in and learn more about leadership, self and community care, cultural identity development, social justice, and more!

While we have a small and growing staff, the Carolyn Barber Pierre Center for Intercultural Life serves the entire Tulane community. We focus on centering the needs of individuals who are often marginalized to ensure that everyone who is part of the campus community can thrive. We highlight the achievements, culture, and contributions of those who blaze the trail for diversity, inclusion, and equity on campus in in the city of New Orleans. 

CIL offers a variety of cohort based experiences, affinity group gatherings, and leadership opportunities. Consider applying to become a Community Engagement Advocate, Ambassador, Peer Mentor, or join a cultural organization or affinity group. Contact Us to learn more! 

The Annual Intercultural Leadership Retreat takes place during the Fall semester in an off-campus camp setting. The weekend is designed to develop skills that will serve students at Tulane, in New Orleans and beyond, with interactive activities designed to create an environment for individuals to explore cultural identity, share experiences and discuss the meaning of leadership within the context of a diverse society. Participants should come prepared to participate in activities by sharing views, attitudes, beliefs and experiences openly and honestly. 

The Mosaic Lounge is located on the ground floor of Warren House, beside SoHo (Weatherhead), behind Butler, and is a designated safe space for LGBTQ+ students. inside the Mosaic Lounge you will find safe sex supplies, Internet access, a TV, DVD player, movies, games, books, information, and much more.

The Relaxation Suite is located next to the Center on the first floor of the Richardson Building in the Center for Intercultural Life (Suite 105). The space is available to anyone who needs a quiet space to reflect, pray, meditate, or just be.