Matea Caluk

Matea Caluk, 37, was born in Bosnia but moved to Lansing with her family in the late 1990s as refugees of the Bosnian War. A 10-year Michigan State University employee, Caluk was recently appointed chief of staff of the Residence Education and Housing Services Department. In her free time, she also serves on the Ingham County Racial Equity Task Force and the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce DEI Committee and is a co-founder of 3KIND Perspective, a local DEI consulting service.

Tell us a little bit about your background and how you got to the United States?

I grew up in Bosnia until I was about 11 years old. Due to the civil war that took place in the region, my family was relocated through refugee services to Lansing. As a kid, I had never heard of Michigan, because when you live internationally, you’re not really sure about where a lot of these places are in the U.S. When we got here, there were refugees from the Balkans, from Sudan, all different parts of the world. It was very much like an international community in the south Lansing area that we lived in.

The whole experience had to have been very formative for you. What do you remember of Bosnia?

I was there until fourth grade, so a lot of my foundational friendships took place during that time. There were days when there would be bombings or sirens and we wouldn’t be able to go to school. We would have to stay home and shelter in our basement. Otherwise, I remember having a very fun childhood, going to school, hanging out with my friends and, when it’s snowing outside, going out to ski with my friends and sledding as a little kid. I remember all of those good times, but I definitely also remember uncertainty and feeling scared. As a kid, because you’re in the middle of it, it kind of becomes a part of your way of life, a part of your childhood.

How often do you go back?

When I was younger, I went back often. I actually met my partner there, and we’re from the same city. We got married and he moved here to the U.S, but we both still have family there. Now, it’s kind of like we’re living in two worlds, but we make it work. It’s been pretty cool to have those different cultural components as a part of raising our own family, too.

Tell us about your new role at MSU.

I started last month, and it’s been really wonderful. I felt like this was a really great match for my skill set. In my role, I’m able to look at strategic planning and assessment, budgeting, staff development, climate and culture within the department to look into how we’re serve our students through an equity lens. We also create great experiences for students who are living in the residence halls.

In what ways does your background inform the work you do now?

When I first moved here, it was a kind of a culture shock for me to recognize the fact that I was different than my community and people around me, especially when I went to school, because I didn’t speak English. Being able to navigate that experience while having a support system and people there who cared about me really drives me to be involved in these different initiatives that provide that for other people.

What kind of reception have you received from MSU students?

Current college students are very much in tune to what social change is, what we need to be doing and in being able to really understand and celebrate diversity and identity. They thrive in being able to sit down and have conversations with people. They’re such outstanding change agents, and it’s been really exciting to see that level of activism and advocacy from them.

I think that being able to support them is really important. To me, that’s exciting, because, back in the day, I was that student, and now I get to work with students who are really passionate about changing the world in a positive way.

Is there anything else you want to add?

I would encourage people to think of some small things that they can do to celebrate diversity. What are ways that you can be conscious of inclusion? To look out for the people around you and make sure that their voices, stories and narratives are included in the ways that our spaces function? Sometimes, we think about diversity, equity and inclusion as being something specific that’s reserved for a specific job, role, or just for activists within our community. Really, it’s something that all of us can do.

— TYLER SCHNEIDER