{"id":6686,"date":"2026-09-30T20:35:39","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T00:35:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/?p=6686"},"modified":"2026-10-01T13:18:25","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T17:18:25","slug":"the-intercultural-collective-has-a-new-culture-builder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/2026\/09\/30\/the-intercultural-collective-has-a-new-culture-builder\/","title":{"rendered":"The Intercultural Collective Has a New Culture Builder"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019ve ever walked into the Intercultural Collective<\/a> (IC) and wondered what happens behind the scenes, Chad Williams, executive director, has a simple answer: a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams spends his days building relationships, supporting the teams that make up the IC and helping students find the resources and communities they need throughout their Syracuse University experience. Now seven months into the role, there\u2019s one thing he keeps coming back to: making sure all students feel welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI look at myself as a culture builder,\u201d Williams said. \u201cTrying to set the tone in the environment for everybody who comes into the IC.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes the people who work there, students who stop by, visitors looking for resources and even someone who simply gets lost in the building and walks through the doors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams sees the IC as a place where all students can be heard, supported and connected to the right person or resource. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will welcome [them], we will support them and we will listen,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we have an answer, we will provide. If we have options, we will provide. And even if we don\u2019t, we will refer you to someone who might. We find ourselves being that bridge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, What Does an Executive Director Actually Do?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Williams\u2019 work goes far beyond what might show up on a calendar. The IC is made up of four teams, including Belonging and Student Success<\/a>, the Center for International Services<\/a>, the LGBTQ+ Resource Center<\/a> and the Kessler Scholars Program<\/a>. Williams works across those teams to make sure they have the resources and support they need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His job also involves supervision, budgets, assessment and plenty of collaboration across campus. For Williams, that collaboration is especially important because no single team can meet every student\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe work is very relational,\u201d Williams said. \u201cIt\u2019s this ability to build collaborations. We\u2019re all on a team.\u201d The team\u2019s shared goal? Getting each student to experience their own definition of success during their Syracuse University experience and beyond graduation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means working with other departments and campus partners to help students navigate college in a way that feels personal to them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His Path to Syracuse University<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Williams was a first-generation, low-income college student and student activist. His own college experience wasn\u2019t always easy. He remembers arriving at college without realizing he would need to pay for his textbooks and eventually taking an 18-year break before returning to graduate school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His career has included teaching, community-based work, nonprofit work and several roles in higher education. Before Syracuse University, he worked at the University of California, Merced, as an assistant Dean of Students, focusing on student support services. That experience shaped how he approaches his work today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams said he focuses on the strengths students bring with them rather than their challenges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re talking about students who are the most resilient, creative problem solvers that you will find on planet Earth,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That perspective is part of what drew him to Syracuse University. Williams said he was impressed that Syracuse University continued investing in resources designed to help students build community and belonging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Does He Want Students to Know?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If Williams could make sure every student knew one thing about the IC, it would be that the space is for<\/em> them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether they\u2019re looking for a community, struggling to make friends, adjusting to college or simply trying to figure out where they belong, the IC is there to support them every step of the way. All are welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI enjoy engaging with students,\u201d he said. \u201cI like to jump in and just sit down and talk to students and see where their heads are at and what they\u2019re learning, what they\u2019re struggling with and what they\u2019re enjoying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams is still getting to know Syracuse University, too. A longtime Syracuse University basketball fan, he is looking forward to attending his first game in person and becoming even more involved in campus life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connecting with the Intercultural Collective <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So, the next time you pass an Intercultural Collective space, you might as well enter. You never know who you\u2019ll meet, what you\u2019ll learn or where the conversation might lead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stay connected and follow the newly launched Intercultural Collective Instagram @MYSU_IC<\/a>. And if you\u2019ve been meaning to meet him, Williams has a message for you: \u201cHit a brotha up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written by Miracle Gross G\u201927, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, M.A.     <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you\u2019ve ever walked into the Intercultural Collective (IC) and wondered what happens behind the scenes, Chad Williams, executive director, has a simple answer: a lot. Williams spends his days building relationships, supporting the teams that make up the IC and helping students find the resources and communities they need throughout their Syracuse University experience.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":380,"featured_media":6801,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/380"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6686"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6796,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6686\/revisions\/6796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}