In November 1971, Robert Lott was appointed Assistant Dean of Students and charged with directing programs for minority students. Lott organized the Office of Minority Student Programs in 1973 and became the first full-time coordinator of Minority Programs. In 1978, the name was changed to the Office of Minority Student Affairs. The office exists to ensure educational opportunity for those students who are identified as minorities – African Americans, American Indians, Hispanics, and Asian Americans. This office was discontinued in 2001, and the position was continued as an office within the Student Affairs Division under the Dean of Students. In 2004, the office was renamed Multicultural Student Affairs.

The Multicultural Student Affairs office offers a number of programs for incoming and current multicultural students at Iowa State. The Academic Program for Excellence (APEX) is a summer program designed to help incoming multicultural students prepare for college academics, the Carver Academy offers guidance and enrichment opportunities to its members, and the ISCORE (Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity) project allows students to participate in seminars, workshops, and conferences focusing on racial and ethnicity issues. The Multicultural Student Affairs Office also provides support to multicultural students through leadership and job opportunities, scholarships, academic support services, and cultural centers, such as the Black Cultural Center and the Multicultural Center.

Directors:

 The Carver Academy

The Carver Academy was created as part of the George Washington Carver Scholarship Award program which annually grants 100 scholarships to incoming minority freshman attending Iowa State. These students register and participate in the Carver Academy which consists of one-credit seminars offered as University Studies 105/106, 205/206, 305/306, and 405/406.

This collection (1995-2012) contains autobiographical narratives created by Iowa State University's George Washington Carver Academy Scholars who were enrolled in University Studies 205, 305, and 405 during the fall semester of 2010. The courses were taught by Dr. Patricia R. Leigh, Professor of Curriculum and Instruction and Professor in Charge of the Carver Academy.

The assigned project was for the students to reflect upon their experiences at Iowa State and to focus on their involvement in the Carver Academy, the university, and the Ames community. The reports were presented as textual, digital, photo, or video narratives. The original files are viewable using Microsoft Office software (Word and PowerPoint primarily) and when possible, print versions were created and included in the collection.

The collection is listed chronologically.