Belonging
The campus community at UVA Wise is representative of — and welcoming to — a variety of cultures and ethnicities.
As a community of learners, we seek to appreciate and respect the diverse cultures and backgrounds, including geographic, socioeconomic, sexual orientation, and religion, of our students, faculty and staff.
A diverse setting helps us all gain an understanding of the value of education and the responsibility of citizenship, which is critical to our success in an ever-changing and complex world.
Office for Advocacy and Opportunity
The Office for Advocacy and Opportunity provides leadership, information, consultation, coordination, assistance, and implementation of compliance needs to various units and constituencies within the College regarding:
- The effort to embrace the pillars of Inclusive Excellence;
- The fair and objective response/referrals to concerns around sexual/gender violence, biases, and disrespect;
- Cultivate inclusiveness and mutual respect throughout the community;
- Prevention and education include but are not limited to VAWA, Clery, Safety, IE, protected statuses and overall community standards;
- Strive to serve authentically a community of life-long learners on their path to self-discovery.
The Office for Advocacy and Opportunity is located on the lower level of Cantrell Hall. Contact us at 276-376-3451.
Follow the Office for Advocacy and Opportunity on social media
Multicultural Center
The Office for Advocacy and Opportunity operates the Multicultural Center, which aims to promote inclusion and engagement for historically underrepresented students. Some of the Center’s goals are to cultivate all to be equally empowered in their identity, provide culturally-relevant services, and build an understand through dialogue.
Please visit the Multicultural Center on the 3rd floor, 24/7 side, of the Library.
Follow the Multicultural Center on social media
Programming & Education
The Office for Advocacy and Opportunity is also committed to providing education and awareness programs and initiatives for the campus community. The Office for Advocacy and Opportunity coordinates the participation of collaborative partners in many events, and we hope that you will participate in one of our numerous events/campaigns that we host every semester.
Smiddy's Cupboard & Express
Smiddy’s Cupboard and Smiddy’s Express provide non-perishable food items and toiletries to all UVA Wise students in need -both commuters and residential students. Smiddy’s Cupboard, located in the Division of Student Affairs Office in Cantrell Hall, was created by the Committee on Student Hunger & Homelessness (COSHH). It officially opened in August 2018. Smiddy’s Express, located in the Multicultural Center on the 3rd floor of the library, opened in 2023.
LGBTQIA+
Safe Zone
Safe Zone is a group of faculty and staff members at the College who agree to be empathetic and informed about gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender issues on campus.
Faculty and staff who display the Safe Zone logo in their offices and/or on their syllabi welcome conversations with any students who have concerns or questions regarding the LGBTA population.
For more information, contact Sara Schill at 276-376-3432 or srp4b@uvawise.edu.
Pride Week
UVA Wise’s Pride Week is an institutionally sponsored week long celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community, providing educational events, resource identification and allyship opportunities. Pride Week typically takes place early in the fall semester to ensure that new campus members understand their resources and identify their allies.
National Coming Out Day
UVA Wise supports campus community members through and during the process of coming out, should they choose to share this information with their peers. Counseling services and support are available to students during this process, and promotion of acceptance of all campus community members is encouraged.
Disability Support Services
Our philosophy is that the individuals we serve are students first, and their disabilities are secondary.
We work to assist all qualified students with disabilities in the pursuit of their educational objectives. We attempt to coordinate the students’ needs with services and resources available within our college system, and to ensure accessible educational opportunities for students according to their individual needs. For more information, contact Whitney Wells, ADA Coordinator, at 276-376-0177 or wew3x@uvawise.edu.
