Intercultural Relations

About Us

The Office of Intercultural Relations (OIR) is a division of Student Development and Learning Department with a multiplicity of offerings.

The goal of OIR is to enable the SAU community to engage the subject of diversity in a healthy manner by working alongside with students, faculty, staff, students, and external constituencies to advance, student success, diversity, equity, and inclusion as core institutional values, central to the University’s mission and strategic plan.

Spring Arbor University is a community of learners committed to reflecting the Kingdom of God in the diversity of our students, faculty, staff, trustees, and other associates. Valuing the dignity of every human being is part of the historic legacy of our founding denomination. The University’s continued focus on creating a diverse learning environment reflects these values and honors our heritage.

This University is committed to being a place where ethnic and racial inclusiveness is a hallmark of the community we create. However, as an imperfect human organization, we must acknowledge and plan for the challenge such diversity brings. But we boldly embrace this challenge, because as Christians, we know it is right. Jesus Christ is the perspective for our teaching, and through him, we are called to move beyond mere tolerance of each other to genuine acceptance and mutually transformative learning.

Become a diverse community of learners is consistent with our liberal arts tradition. It facilitates a healthy exchange of cultural, economic, social, religious, philosophical, and political views within the classroom and in campus activities.

Further, as an educational institution, we know we will ill prepare students for personal and professional lives in a global society if we fail to expose them to the rich diversity of peoples and cultures. This exposure cannot solely come from books but needs to be tested and experienced through interactive and on-going personal relationships.

Therefore, we will seek ways to invite and welcome diversity into our community. We will be proactive and creative in integrating different cultural perspectives into the curriculum and community life, and we will strive to be always a community of love and respect.