Trinice McNally sits in her office at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) surrounded by boxes of papers and bags full of empowerment swag-buttons with “undocumented, unafraid and unapologetic” in bold, printed graphics. These items share their space with a herd of elephant figurines standing as silent symbols of her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta.
The 29-year-old is still settling into her role that she began in January as the founding director of multicultural affairs for UDC’s all-new Center for Diversity, Inclusion & Multicultural Affairs, which is set to have a grand opening at the end of 2018.
For now she’s a one-woman band. She’s working with the university to hire staff for the center.
“I’m founding and piloting it in its entirety,” McNally says. “We need to make sure we are providing experiential learning opportunities for them … give folks the opportunity to learn just as much as they learn in the classroom and I do that through co-curricular engagement.”
In September, McNally collaborated with other groups to offer a movie viewing of “The Hate You Give.”
Through the center McNally says she will address what she believes to be some of the most urgent issues in higher education: promoting inclusion for LGBTQ people and other historically marginalized communities. This includes Dreamers, both documented and undocumented students and first-generation students, specifically first-generation immigrants, she says.
UDC is intentional about accepting undocumented students, a move that she says other historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have been reluctant to do. Thirteen percent of UDC’s students are international, hailing from more than 82 countries.
