Strengthening pluralism in the student experience

Cultural and Spiritual Life and its constituent centers invite you to engage in a range of encounters and experiences grounded in the following themes:

community building

student leadership development

learning across difference

peer mentoring + education

culturally-affirming spaces

While centers may orient their program offerings differently, these opportunities have always been open and accessible to all students. We encourage you to consider a range of entry points and engage as you see fit while recognizing that the best learning comes from challenging and strengthening what you know, how you know, and why you know it.

Start a Student Organization

Cultural and Spiritual Life supports the Center for Student Involvement’s new student organization certification process by offering, through its six CSL Centers, guidance to new and existing student groups and organizations that are categorized as international, cultural, or spiritual/religious in their intent and execution.

Our goal is to ensure that new student organizations that seek to advance “international, cultural or spiritual” dimensions of the student experience at Northeastern University are responding to the needs of our increasingly diverse community, do not duplicate efforts already being made by other student organizations, structured to be sustainable, and have demonstrated a commitment to working with the CSL Center(s) through our ethic of pluralism: what it means to live, labor, and learn together in an increasingly complex world.

Book a CSL Space

Our six Centers offer different spaces available to recognized student organizations, academic departments, and student service offices for programs of different sizes. Note: Each center is responsible for reviewing a submitted request in accordance with their operating processes.

The information below allows student leaders and campus event planners to get a sense of what is available. As of Fall 2025, Cultural and Spiritual Life will be moving to 25Live as the portal through which our available spaces can be booked.

Stay tuned for more information.

Apply for a Program Micro Grant

Cultural and Spiritual Life offers Micro Grants (up to $500) to support recognized student organizations in funding of programming that is:

Collaborative in nature
Experiential
Address at least one of the following topics:
- Educating across difference
- Building Relationships
- Strengthening dialogue
- Advancing learning/cultural activities that lead to a more inclusive Environment

Request for funding should be sent to [email protected] with the subject line (“Request for Funding”): Submissions should include the following:

Title of event
Date of event
Location of event
Do you have a confirmed room booking? [yes/no]
Amount requested (max request: $1000)
Are there other student organizations involved? [yes/no]. If yes, please specify.
Rationale for the event? [How does this event connect with some of the key outcomes highlighted above?]
Describe the program in no more than 1,000 words. You may include the main outcomes of the program.
Are there any other funders? Please list them out.
Have you received funding before from Cultural and Spiritual Life? [Yes/No]

Learn with Us: Creative leadership training consultations available

Interested in exploring and examining options for learning and development around issues and experiences of culture and difference for your student organization, student leaders, student staff, or administrative department?

We are available to support your learning needs through consultation including resourcing and delivering engaging and interactive workshops that may be customized to your need.

Please contact [email protected] to arrange a time for us to connect where we can discuss your needs and what we may be able to offer you.

Advocate with us: Cultural and Spiritual Life Student Leaders' Roundtable

Each Fall and Spring semesters, the Cultural and Spiritual Life Leadership Team invites student leaders from culturally- and spiritually-focused student organizations to attend a specially-curated roundtable, where we can identify issues, dialogue about them, cultivate collaborations between groups and communities, and co-construct paths forward.

Stay tuned for a Fall 2025 date.

Play with us: Join an event in our CREACT Lounge in 203 Ell Hall.

EMPOWER Students' Collective

Since its founding in 2011, EMPOWER has been the cornerstone of connecting culturally-diverse student communities on campus.

The idea for EMPOWER began in Spring 2010 with the recognition of a need for more intentional connections among historically underrepresented students. While cultural centers existed on campus and have been open to all students, there were no structured spaces fostering collaboration between the communities that engaged with each center. In its early years, the two signature programs anchoring the EMPOWER Students’ Collective were an off-campus student leader retreat (usually in the fall semester) and a peer-led conference (spring semester). The conference offered a space to examine identity and leadership practices among students of color.

In 2014, the Fellows program was introduced. Designed to have student representation from various cultural centers, the outcome of the program was to strengthen design and delivery of programs and offer a pulse for the student experience, especially among historically underrepresented communities. Up to five student fellows were appointed annually to support programming and engage intentionally in collaborative partnerships across campus. Over the past decade, key partners beyond the cultural centers have included the Center for Student Involvement (including Lead360), Residential Life, Office of Belonging, and the Office of Scholarship and Opportunity Programs.

In 2025, the EMPOWER Fellows Program will be paused temporarily to allow for intentional review, design, and will be relaunched in an expanded format. Watch this space for more!