UW-Madison’s Multicultural Student Center will change leadership as it welcomes new Interim Assistant Dean and Director Ida Balderrama-Trudell, replacing previous MSC leader Gabe Javier as he becomes the new interim associate vice chancellor of student affairs.
Balderrama-Trudell has nearly 20 years of experience as a graduate student and staff member at UW-Madison, including two years as a special assistant to the dean of students, an MSC email said. She also won the Student Personnel Association’s “Leadership in Social Justice Award” in 2019.
“Coming home to the Red Gym takes on a lot of meaning for me,” Balderrama-Trudell wrote. “When I first came to UW, the Red Gym, and specifically the MSC spaces, were the place I went to physically see people who looked like me. It is where I began to learn about programs and support for students of color, like myself; where I studied, and where I began to grow into the scholar I am.”
Javier’s background includes his work covering topics such as intersectionality, intimate partner violence and sexual assault, and LGBTQ ally training programs. He has also served as director of UW-Madison’s LGBT Campus Center and assistant to the dean of students at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
Javier also shared his enthusiasm about the importance of his new position. He said this opportunity will “elevate the MSC’s work” within the university.
“The work of building inclusive, authentic communities across campus and centering the voices of underrepresented students remains at the core of my work – and the work of the whole MSC team,” Javier wrote. “My hope is that this opportunity allows for the MSC to continue its trajectory of growth, allowing our reach to go beyond our grasp.”
