Following the Rev. Nathaniel Mays' promotion to assistant dean for student life and diversity services, a new Intercultural Center (ICC) director has been hired. Suzie Talukdar '96 is now in charge of the center, which houses on-campus intercultural clubs.Talukdar is no stranger to the Brandeis campus. "When I first started Brandeis (as a student), it was the first full year that the center was open, and so I became familiar with the center through the clubs I was part of," she said. Talukdar added that as a student she was involved with the South Asian Club and the Muslim Student Association.

Mays said Talukdar worked at the ICC as a work-study student while at Brandeis and also assisted with an ICC-sponsored summer program for at-risk Waltham youth. Talukdar said the experience "really helped me come to the conclusion that I wanted to teach."

Following graduation, Talukdar attended Boston University's Graduate School of Education. For the past six years, she has taught middle-school social studies. Although she is currently serving as the ICC director, she is still teaching at F.A. Day Middle School in Newton. "I didn't feel comfortable leaving that position," she said. "I feel like I made a commitment, and so ... I'm going to finish off my teaching for the school year at the end of June, and starting in mid-July I'm going to be coming on board (at the ICC) full time."

Mays said that when the position of ICC director became available in September, he encouraged Talukdar to apply for the job. "We actually received close to 50 applications for the job, but I did go to her and ask her if she would consider applying for the position," he said. "So, she went through the normal process of applying for the job, interviewing. She met with members of the student senate, she met with members of the leadership at the Intercultural Center, she met with faculty, she met with deans."

Talukdar said the hiring process was "rigorous ... but well worth it." "The timing was a little bit awkward, to be completely honest, because I was teaching," she said. "It was September, and the school year had just started, so I was feeling a little bit torn, and wondered if the timing was right, but then I just figured I'd go for it and see what happened."

Justin Moore '04, president of the Brandeis Black Student Organization (BBSO) said he never met Talukdar when she had volunteered at the ICC following graduation, but "students were allowed to interview candidates and suggest who to hire." Talukdar said she had previously met some of the students, faculty and staff involved in the hiring process. "I liked meeting with the students the best, mostly because I know that's who I'm going to be working with ... I know with the students, my job is really to focus on making their experience a more positive one here," she said.

Talukdar said she has many ideas for both maintaining and improving the ICC. "I definitely want to continue with what the goal of the center is, which is to improve student of color life on campus, for both domestic and international students," she said.

According to Talukdar, the ICC has focused greatly on cultural events and celebrations in the past, but she said she believes the ICC can also work more on improving on-campus cultural relations. "One of the things I'd like to help students focus on -- and, I know there's interest on their part as well -- is ways to be more active in moving beyond just the cultural education and talking about issues that are affecting the students of color here on campus. Current issues. Dealing with racism on all levels, cultural, institutional and how to create change in those areas."

Talukdar said that eventually she wants to become actively involved in recruiting more students of color to the Brandeis campus, but first she wishes to become more familiar with the responsibilities of being director. Mays said he believes it will be a smooth transition. "I'm trying to be a good former director and get out of her way," he said. "I was appointed director six months after it was created, so my responsibility ... for the last 10 years was really to get it up and going, to put the foundation underneath it ... But, I think now she will go far beyond wherever I was ever able to dream of going with this center, and she'll make it something that we're even more proud of as she establishes herself as director."

Moore said that so far, BBSO has not been affected greatly by the transition. He also had some suggestions on how to improve the ICC. "Some of the more plausible and immediate actions can be an increase in the communication between the ICC clubs and ICC clubs and the rest of the campus," Moore said. "To help cultural relations in general, I believe that the administration and faculty members should show more support to the ICC and acknowledge its impact on this campus."

Mays highlighted Talukdar's ability to relate to students because she attended Brandeis herself. "I'm confident that the student community is going to appreciate what she has to give, and I think they'll appreciate it because it's coming from someone who's been where they are," he said. "She slept in the dorms here. She knows what it's like to eat in the cafeteria. So, she really will bring a very professional but yet informed outlook on what it means to be director at Brandeis.