About CSL

Create an inclusive environment that engages all learners as they pursue academic success, cultivate authentic relationships, and develop a robust understanding of pluralism – living well together in increasingly diverse world

Strengthening self-exploration, community building, creative and experiential learning, and resourcing that prepares all students to thrive in a dynamic and interconnected world

• Unbridled Joy: Cultural and Spiritual Life prioritizes joy in its programs, services, and spaces where every learner can be and become the best version of themselves.
• Community Connections: Cultural and Spiritual Life emphasizes the importance of fostering a connected community that welcomes all learners
• Creative Dialogical Learning: Cultural and Spiritual Life recognizes the importance of lifelong learning and encourages creativity and relational interventions to advance inter/cultural learning.
• Caring Relationships: Cultural and Spiritual Life is committed to an ethic of care in all our encounters and experiences where everyone feels valued and respected, no matter their background and identity.
• Unconditional Human Worth: Cultural and Spiritual Life believes that every learner has boundless value encoded within them regardless of any limits ascribed or prescribed.

Cultural and Spiritual Life (CSL) has been a cornerstone of the Northeastern student experience for over 50 years with collaborative advocacy by students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the neighborhoods surrounding our campus being its core foundation. While our unit was not always called ‘Cultural and Spiritual Life,’ the assemblage of centers that you know and love today has always been committed to place-making, culturally sustaining supports, and student learning within what is the Division of Student Life.

A few key milestones in our historic journey:

• 1971: The African American Institute (later named for John D. O’Bryant at its 25th anniversary in 1993) was the first organized cultural center on campus opening its doors at 104 Forsyth Street in 1971.
• 1997: The Latinx Student Cultural Center would be the second cultural center that opened in 1997.
• 1998: In 1998, the Center for Spirituality, Dialogue, and Service (then known as the Multi-Faith Center) got its new home – the award-winning Sacred Space (200 Ell Hall), which is built literally on the ashes of the university’s traditional Bacon Memorial Chapel that burned down in the 1990s.
• 2005: The Asian American Center opens its doors at 109 Hemenway Street.
• 2011: This year was a landmark year for Cultural and Spiritual Life. A number of new initiatives that deepened Northeastern’s commitment to cultural learning and student success were established.
  • The LGBTQA Resource Center was established in 2011 through the then-Division of Student Affairs as a part of Campus Activities.
  • That same year, the EMPOWER Student Collective was established to provide a supportive community between the various student communities of color at Northeastern. The collective prioritized cross-center collaborations, engaged with student leaders, and offered a range of learning opportunities, cultural programming, and community resources that advanced academic success, personal growth, and cultural exploration.
  • Born out of a need where students could have conversations about social change and connect with communities across and beyond the campus, the Social Justice Resource Center (SJRC) was founded in 2011 as part of Residential Life and transitioned as part of the Center for Spirituality, Dialogue, and Service the following year.
• 2013: The LGBTQA Resource Center transitions from Campus Activities to Residential, Cultural, and Spiritual Life.
• 2016: The President announced the creation of the new center that would prioritize intercultural learning. The newly established Center for Intercultural Engagement absorbed the Social Justice Resource Center under a single Director given their shared vision and values.
• 2022: As Northeastern emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, supports for first-generation learners took root in the Center for Intercultural Engagement (CIE) as a network of campus partners committed to advancing strengths-based resources, connections, and community for first-generation, undocumented, and low-income  students. In addition, the Center for Spirituality, Dialogue, and Service opened up a Mussallah Prayer Space.
• 2024: The First Generation, Undocumented, and Low Income (FUNL) Network received much-needed space to grow its programming and supports for Northeastern learners by consolidating the Social Justice Resource Center and EMPOWER Programs with the central offices for Cultural and Spiritual Life. In addition, the Center for Spirituality, Dialogue, and Service opens its expanded Dharma Prayer Space in 201 Ell Hall.

As we continue to navigate an evolving terrain for higher education and university campuses, Cultural and Spiritual Life has embraced a curricular approach centered around a shared learning priority with Residential Life and anchored by four key goals: personal growth, community and belonging, wellbeing, and leadership. Our values and commitment to preparing learners to thrive in an increasingly diverse world remain woven through the daily work of each of our six centers. We continue to advocate as we have for over half a century for a more inclusive Northeastern: where each member of our community is able to see and feel seen.

[Coming soon: Campus map visually identifying our six centers.]