In August 2025, we were pleased to announce the arrival of OACES (pronounced “oasis”), or the Office of Academic Community, Empowerment, and Success.

OACES is a “pillar” (or sub-unit) in the Undergraduate Advising Center (UAC), combining the current staffing, budgets, and programs of the Office of Minority Education (OME) and the UAC’s Advising & Student Belonging (ASB) pillar (including FLI [First Generation and/or Low-Income] student success, associate advisor program, and transfer students). The other UAC pillars are the Office of the First Year (including orientation, FPOPs, first year advising and programming), Academic Achievement (including tutoring, student success software, and proactive advising support), and Strategic Initiatives (including assessment, communications, and upper-level student programming).

While OACES is new, it builds upon the remarkable 50-year history of OME. In this article, we discuss both the history of OME and the creation of OACES.

Leveraging OME: 50 Years of Academic Empowerment

Founded in 1975, the OME was created “to promote academic excellence, build strong communities, and develop professional mindsets among students of underrepresented minority (URM) groups, with the ultimate goal of developing leaders in the academy, industry, and society.” For 50 years, the OME has served MIT undergraduate students with caring staff and mentors, innovative programs, and a powerful sense of community and belonging. (Of note, MITES, another one of MIT’s hallmark programs focused on offering access and opportunity for middle school and high school students to pursue STEM, debuted that same year.)

OME got up and running quickly, as some of its now well-known programs predated its creation. Project Interphase (i.e., Interphase EDGE), created in 1969 to “ease the transition for incoming first-year students, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds,” became a foundational element for the early OME. The program engages with students during their first two years beginning with an intensive eight-week summer session prior to students’ first year at MIT. Designed to expose scholars to key academic concepts, campus resources, and the pace, rigor, and culture of the Institute, it also provides a strong foundation for building community and fostering a sense of belonging. Fast forward to recent years, the Interphase summer session now includes a virtual option to further expand its reach. This year, the program received its highest ever number (250) of applications and nearly 100 students participated online and/or through on-campus activities.

Likewise, tutoring via the Talented Resource Scholar’s Room (TSR^2) dates back even earlier to the Tutoring Program established by the Black Student Union in 1960. Today, there are upwards of 800 engagements with TSR^2 during the academic year.

For those who have engaged with the office over the past five decades, OME is most defined by the community it has created and nurtured through evolving activities and opportunities to suit the changing needs of students.

The past decade in particular has seen enormous adaptation. Interphase’s two-year scholar enrichment program was adapted in the early 2020s into a parallel online format to serve more students. Let’s Chat@OME debuted around the same time, allowing students to drop into OME and talk with mental health and counseling staff, to ease access and destigmatize care. The Industrial Advisory Council for Minority Education (IACME) grew by nearly threefold, increasing member companies, as well as adding nonprofits, government labs, and alumni affinity groups to the mix.

More recently, stemming from conversations with students, The Standard and the CRWN (pronounced “crown”) were both created to “holistically support the academic, personal, and professional success of students,” very much akin to the UAC’s mandate and strategy. The synergy of these and other OME programs with the UAC ensures that OME’s remarkable work and legacy will endure.

Founding OACES: Charting the Next 50 Years

The UAC, created in 2023 to provide a transformative academic advising experience, represents one of our most significant investments in support of MIT’s undergraduate students. As the UAC took shape, it became clear from extensive conversations across the community that both the UAC and the OME could be strengthened and their missions further advanced by bringing the OME within the UAC.

The ASB pillar in the UAC is a response to changing demographics, as 30% of our students now identify as first-generation and/or low-income. We also have a growing population of transfer students, including veterans. Thus, ASB and OME were naturally aligned, as both share a commitment to academic success, mentorship, and belonging for students from historically marginalized backgrounds and/or those who have navigated unique paths to MIT.

Last spring, Dave charged a working group co-chaired by Kris and Sadé, and composed of students, faculty, alumni, and staff, to develop a mission statement and name for the combined OME and ASB organizations that would build on the 50 impactful years of the OME and the recent accomplishments of ASB and reflect the desire to strengthen the support for our current and future students.

The working group kept a strong focus on its assignment while still making room for deep philosophical and contemplative discussion ranging from educational pedagogy and scholarship to organizational behavior (with insight from Sloan alumni), alongside current students’ on-the-ground perspectives about how they hoped to experience the space and programming.

From that came . . .

• A new name and mission. The naming was critical, as the team wanted to convey the importance of: community in academic settings; empowerment by providing the resources and support to build confidence and belonging; and success (academic, personal, and professional). These themes can be recognized in the mission and legacy of OME.
  
  Similarly, the OACES mission statement developed by the group explicitly recognizes the OME foundation: The mission of OACES is to build on the pioneering work of the OME, which long supported the academic empowerment and success of historically marginalized and underrepresented student communities. Expanding upon this legacy, OACES will champion the success of students who have faced challenges on their paths to or at MIT, including but not limited to students who are first generation, low income, transfer, underrepresented, or underserved. Open to all students, OACES is committed to fostering academic excellence; personal and professional growth; and strong, connected communities that empower students to thrive as leaders in academia, industry, and society.

• A new leader. Associate Dean and Director Sadé Abraham, who led UAC’s ASB and, over the past academic year, served as interim deputy director of the OME.
  
• A fantastic home. The entire UAC staff, including OACES, is located in Building 11, first and third floor. Integrated within the Advising & Academic Achievement (AAA) pillar in the UAC, the OME’s TSR^2 (The Talented Scholars Resource Room) will become the foundation of an effort to make tutoring more available for all undergraduates. TSR^2’s physical home will be in the OME’s former space in Building 4.
  
• A new Advisory Council. Reporting to the vice chancellor for graduate and undergraduate education (GUE), it will provide strategic advice about OACES and related GUE efforts and be an essential way for current and future leaders to remain aligned with what today and tomorrow’s students need to thrive. This council will include students, alumni, staff, and faculty. The OME’s previous faculty advisory council (OMEFAC) will be integrated into the new Advisory Council. The OME’s previous student advisory council (OMESAC) will remain and be renamed as part of OACES.
  
  

In the words of Sadé, “the result is more than just a new acronym. It is a unified ecosystem designed to serve all of our students holistically. Our team brings both deep institutional history and fresh energy.”

For those of you who have benefitted from or worked with the OME, rest assured that within the new organization, there remains a strong commitment to both the former OME and ASB portfolios. Our hope is that having both organizations under one umbrella will lead to even greater synergy and expansion of our efforts, enhancing the services we offer to students.

Looking Forward

The OACES team will spend the coming months refining its strategic plan, seeking advice from students, faculty, staff, and alumni, and reaching out to the campus community, all while settling into its new space and running current programming. In short, we are looking for community members, especially those dedicated to teaching, learning, and advising, to be engaged in co-creating what’s to come.

Fittingly, these energizing changes come as OME marks its 50th birthday. We hope you will join us for a celebration of its legacy and to honor its new era as OACES. More details on the celebration to come.

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