When I first came to the U of I in 1990, none of the key resources that exist today, were in existence back then - no Asian American Cultural Center (AACC) no Asian American Studies, no Asiantation. AAPIs were not a part of the Minority Student Orientation program. 

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In terms of University resources there was the Illini Union Board Asian American Programming Committee which organized programs for the campus community. Looking online, it seems that this committee is now called the Asian American Cultural Center Advisory Committee. There were also some classes on AAPI history initiated by Professor Clark Cunningham and then Assistant Dean of Students Yuki Llewellyn, but I didn't come to learn of these classes until my junior year. 

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Without any substantive resources, the main center of focus for an incoming AAPI student interested in getting involved with other AAPI students on campus was the student organizations such as the Asian American Association, Philippine Student Association, Thai Student Association, Taiwanese American Students Club, Indian Student Association just to name a few. There had been some attempts at coalition building among the AAPI students in years past, even as far back as the 1970s, including the group Asian Pacific American Coalition to Combat Oppression, Racism and Discrimination (ACCORD) in the early 1990s, but to my knowledge the longest lasting group has been the Asian Pacific American Coalition (APAC). By my senior year I had become very involved in AAPI activism on campus and I served as co-chair of APAC in 1993-1994, the year it first became a Registered Student Organization.

In terms of activism, I hadn't personally learned in depth what students were trying to accomplish on campus until my junior year. U of I is a big university and you could easily be an AAPI student back then and if you hadn't joined an AAPI student organization, you could easily not be aware of any issues. The AAPI student organizations were very much focused on social events such as fashion shows and dances in the Union and not so much on activism. But there were a small group of students who were looking at the lack of resources for AAPI students on campus and pushing for more recognition. We had discovered that AAPIs were considered a minority when it came to funding from the state and federal government, but actual services and resources were practically nonexistent. La Casa and the Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center or the Black House as it was known as back then, existed as well as the Office of Minority Student Affairs, but nothing for AAPIs. The University wasn't sure what to do with AAPI students. We were simply overlooked. What the University focused on was the percent of AAPIs in the State of Illinois which was about 3% at the time, as compared to enrollment at U of I which was around 10% and they deemed that AAPIs did not have issues with recruitment and retention as they attributed to other minority groups. We called it the "overrepresented" argument. We flipped it around and said, "Well if we have these numbers and we are considered a minority by state and federal definition, shouldn't we have more resources because we have more students?" 

As I mentioned earlier, I wasn't aware of any of this initially when I first came to the U of I. A key turning point for me personally was learning more about these issues when I decided to write a story about AAPI students on campus for my radio journalism class. I interviewed a number of student leaders and University administrators for the series and during the course of these interviews I learned about the push for AA Studies and the AACC. At the conclusion of the story I felt like my eyes had been opened and that I was finally learning about my identity as an Asian American. I joined in the push for recognition and resources for AAPI students from that point forward.

Since I attended both undergrad and law school at U of I, I had a unique opportunity to be on campus for an extended period of time to see our hard work manifest into real gains, first in 1995, with the creation of the Asian Pacific American Resource Board (APARB) which oversaw the administration of the $30,000 fund for programming and in 1997, with the University's $500,000 commitment towards the creation of AA studies. AAPI students were a creative, motivated, tireless and vibrant group and it was coming into its own. We had finally realized the recognition our community deserved and had a foundation to build a future.

U of I had just hosted a Midwest Asian American Students (MAAS) conference and I remember thinking how much inspiration and learning came from those conferences and how regrettably not everyone had the opportunity to learn from these amazing programs. I felt that there had to be a way to reach AAPI students before they sort of disappeared into the larger campus community.

The focus was on new students because AAPI students were not invited to be a part of the Minority Student Orientation. I recall being a little confused when I first saw the MSO table at the larger summer orientation program that all students attend before they start school and I wondered why AAPIs weren't a part of that because I thought I was a minority. I came to learn that many of my fellow student leaders felt the same confusion. Asiantation was a way to welcome new students to the AAPI community on campus, have them meet the student organizations and learn about the resources on campus. By that time we actually had some resources to promote. Asiantation was unique in that it was a student-run orientation program and we knew as student leaders, the road to recognition for the AAPI community on campus would be a long one. We recognized that we needed to find and mentor younger students to keep the hard work and the efforts of all the students that came before us, alive for future generations.

For any new program one the main challenges is funding, so I reached out to the Dean of Students Office and the Illini Union Board asking what resources they could provide. We were able to secure a room in the Union for the event and obtain a list of incoming AAPI freshman and transfer students and we sent them a copy of the booklet and a flyer for the event to their dorms. The first Asiantation booklet was little more than some 30 odd pages stapled together. I asked all the AAPI RSOs to participate, write up a blurb about their organization and submit a picture. There were a few pieces written by students and then a list of campus resources. The photos were literally glued into the booklet and copied on a copy machine. That was as high tech as it was back then. There was no such thing as social media or even websites to promote events like we have today. Flyers were the main means of communicating with students. 

The most rewarding part of creating Asiantation is seeing it continue and evolve and knowing that it's welcomed so many students throughout the years. I hoped but never expected it would have this type of longevity. Asiantation is now older than me when I started it. I coordinated the first three Asiantations, but by the fourth one it was time to pass the baton and luckily I found two co-chairs and a group of enthusiastic students who were willing to take on the program. It was unique in that it was a wholly student run orientation program and there was never any guarantee it would continue. It wasn't until some years later did I come to know that the Asian American Cultural Center - which did not come to fruition until after I had graduated - had taken the program under its umbrella. But that was the plan all along. The first formal cultural center proposal drafted by students and submitted to the administration in 1994, explicitly had the Asiantation program written into it as one of AACC's directives. When the AACC was formalized and Asiantation was officially brought under the Center's wing, Asiantation was exactly where it was intended to be.

It was also amazing to know that Asiantation had inspired other campuses like Northwestern to create orientation programs of their own so its reach went beyond anything I could have initially anticipated. Through student conferences and general outreach we kept in constant communication with students from other universities who were pushing for the same resources, so we were inspired by and supported each other's efforts. 

The first Asiantation drew 50 students. My aspiration was always to grow it every year and reach more students. By the second year of Asiantation, the funding committee APARB had been created in response to student demand for resources, so I was able to apply for funds for Asiantation. More money meant we could expand the Asiantation booklet and have it professionally printed. We were able to include more written pieces by students and more resources due to the increase in funds. By the third year, 20 organizations and 375 students attended the welcoming event.

I haven't attended a recent Asiantation personally but I've peeked in now and then and checked in with AACC Director David Chih to see how it's been doing. I know this year has been particularly challenging so I was excited to see that you kept Asiantation going and that it went virtual this year. I was also very much heartened to see this past year's booklet and how it included some of the pieces that I recall from the years I was there. While it's very nostalgic for me, I hope students are finding value and benefiting from the program and have the chance to learn about the wealth of resources that are on campus today for AAPI students. Because there were practically no resources when I first came on campus and we had to push and forge our own path, I hope students find something in the AAPI campus community that resonates with them and do whatever they can to keep things moving forward for the next generation.  

I hope that students learn about the history about how Asiantation, the AACC and the AA Studies Department were created. None of these were in existence when I was a student almost 30 years ago and our struggle was a continuation of decades of being overlooked. These resources were not thought up by some administrator in his/her office one day, it was through the persistence and dedication of students that made these a reality. I hope students today take advantage of these resources such as taking a class offered by the AA Studies Department or attending an event at the AACC. When they do that, in addition to having the opportunity to learn more about their identity as AAPIs, they are also fulfilling the dream of the students that came before them.

As for the most pressing issue currently facing us right now - it's xenophobia - particularly as it pertains to the COVID-19 virus. AAPIs throughout history have been seen perpetually as "the other" and are now being scapegoated once again. When AAPIs are not seen as American it becomes so much easier to dehumanize us. I'm heartened to see the rallies that are unifying our community and our allies, and the groups that have sprung to action to counter this hostility and speak out on our behalf. But after the rallies are over and media interest in our community fades from the breaking news of the day, where do we go from here? I have never stopped believing in the power of education to combat discrimination and racism. Early last year, I started taking a closer look at what my sons' elementary school was teaching regarding AAPI history and I reached out to his teacher to inquire if it was being taught in the classroom. I also reached out to the school librarian to see what AAPI children's books they had in their collection. I thought back to the struggle for Asian American studies in particular and how the first real knowledge I gained about the rich history we have in America did not happen until I was in college, and then it only happened because I actively sought it. College should not be the first time a student should be learning about AAPIs, nor should it be middle school or high school. It needs to be taught and recognized from the very start and integrated into the curriculum.  I resolved to start working with the school to incorporate some learning about AAPIs and to this end I researched a list of not only AAPI children's books but books of many cultures - such as books about Black history, Native American history, and children of mixed backgrounds and shared them with the school. I looked forward to promoting and expanding this effort - and then COVID happened. Along with it, came hateful rhetoric against AAPIs and along with that, came violence. The need for education to counter stereotypes and racism has never been greater in our community.

Just recently, because of the media attention AAPIs have been garnering, I became aware of the Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History (TEAACH) Act (HB 376) - a bill currently going through the state legislature in Springfield. The TEAACH Act would require Illinois schools to add AAPI history to their curriculum. I can't think of a better project for UIUC students to become involved in - especially because we understand the importance of an education that includes and recognizes AAPIs. I presume a sizable number of AAPI students at UIUC come from all over Illinois and if they were to get involved in this effort and reach out to their legislators to encourage them to pass this bill, imagine how amazing this would be for the children of our state? California recently passed a similar ethnic studies bill into law and other states such as Connecticut are trying to do the same. Bringing AAPI studies and resources to the University campus was only one milestone in the larger journey to bring recognition for our community beyond the walls of the University. This legislation will have a lasting and far reaching impact and I believe we can do it.  

I'm thankful for the opportunity to share the history of Asiantation and that students and staff have kept it going for so many years. I learned so much from having been a part of student activism at UIUC and I look forward to being continually inspired by what you have all accomplished, and will accomplish.