This study examined the extent to which inclusion of diverse perspectives in the classroom contributed to the variation in thriving among first-year students of color at a midsize university on the West Coast. Student thriving was defined as academic, interpersonal, and psychological engagement and well being. The results indicated that presenting diverse perspectives in class directly and indirectly contributed to the variation in thriving in students of color. Exposure to multiple perspectives has positive effects on all students, but was particularly influential among students of color as it is related to greater frequency and satisfaction with student-faculty interactions and contributed more significantly to students' levels of thriving at the end of the first semester. The final structural model explained 70% of the variation in student thriving.