Chicago Flame: March 8, 2005

Asian American Resource and Cultural Center Anticipates Opening

By Enoy Munedouang

The Asian American Resource and Cultural Center (AARCC) will be moving into its new home on the first floor of Taft hall this week to prepare for the center's scheduled opening in April .

The new location, being closer to SCE and many of the lecture halls, the cultural center will be easily accessible to students and faculty members who seek its services.

The Center has been temporarily located in the Student Service Building since its establishment at UIC in the fall of 2004. The Asian American Coalition Committee and other student organizations like the Undergraduate Student Government and Asian American Students in Alliance, have been lobbying the university for an Asian American Studies program and cultural center for nearly five years. The oraganizations are finally seeing some end results with their struggle for a fully operational resource center for Asian American students.

Heather De Guia, the chair for the Asian American Coalition Committee, expressed her concerns about many students being unaware of racially motivated incidents involving Asians that tend to be 'swept under the rug' in the mainstream of American culture, and similarly on college campuses.

"AARCC is currently working on gathering more support from faculty through support letters," said De Guia. "We are also trying to building with other student organizations, awareness about issues facing the Asian American community at UIC and give exposure to the arrival of the AARCC."

With a vast array of experience in Asian American studies, Karen Su and Corinne Kodama, the Director and Associate Director, respectively, will lead the new cultural center in its effort to foster the community and organize events such as Asian American Awareness Month, which kicks off in April; this will help "to strengthen the Asian American campus community."

"Asiantation," an event tailored to new Asian students at UIC, is an orientation program that helps raise awareness of campus programs and student services available to them. The event also encourages students to participate in student organizations and other social events that help promote a healthy understanding of the many aspects regarding student body diversity.

As the largest minority group at UIC, with over 25 percent, students of Asian descent are welcoming of the new center and eager to see how it will affect the morale of UIC's diverse population. According to the 2005 edition of "U.S. News and World Report: Best Colleges," UIC is ranked 9th nationally in diversity.

One of the people responsible for initiating a rally among the Asian American students to demand an Asian American Studies program and cultural center was Jonathan Park. He a Ph.D. student in English, who helped draft a proposal that was presented to the Provost of UIC during the Fall 2001 semester.

"Everything is finally coming together," said Park. "Once the Asian American Studies program is in place, I think it will be beneficial to the university as a whole."

Although there are courses available in Asian American literature on campus, UIC is currently exploring various departments to see where new hires can be brought, which will be the first step to a minor in Asian American Studies. Due to a state fiscal crisis in Illinois, hiring has been curtailed for the meanwhile.

"Once the situation improves a bit, we can begin to look for new Asian American Studies faculty to help build a program that will be essential to the future growth of UIC," said Mark Chiang, an Assistant Professor of Asian American Literature.

The official opening of AARCC is slated for April 14, during Asian American Awareness Month. It will be hosting a grand opening celebration in tandem with "Asiantation" and other events.

New Developments of Student Movement on Campus for an Asian American Studies program

Response to the article in this past week’s Chicago Flame article “Asian American Resource and Cultural Center anticipates opening”

By Heather P. de Guia
President, Asian American Coalition Committee

The creation of the Asian American Resource and Cultural Center (AARCC) has been a long awaited journey that must not be underscored by the past week’s article. After reading the article, I was disappointed with the quality of editing and inaccuracy of the information presented. Nonetheless, I would like to fill in some significant details that were not included within the article, as well as modify some of the mistakes.

The AARCC’s opening is a significant milestone at UIC. A proposal for the establishment of AARCC was approved in 2001, however, due to the budget freeze, students waited four years for the AARCC’s arrival. Although students are excited that the AARCC is finally here, many are still disappointed that UIC does not have an Asian American Studies (AAS) program. For fifteen years, students have been demanding an AAS program, but there has been slow progress on behalf of the administration in establishing such a program.

Currently, the Asian American Coalition Committee (AACC), not to be confused with AARCC, and other student organizations have been actively campaigning for an AAS program. The past school year, AACC has been meeting with administrators and more specifically, LAS department heads to gather support letters for the development of an AAS program. AACC has been working with other organizations such as, Asian American Students in Alliance, Chi Sigma Tau fraternity, Filipinos in Alliance, Kappa Delta Phi sorority, and Puerto Rican Student Association, to name a few, to rally support for a program by petitioning and spreading awareness about issues facing the Asian American community. It is in UIC’s best interest to develop an Asian American Studies program because there is high student demand and a great deal of support from faculty.

On March 17, 2005, AACC alongside supportive representatives from other organizations will be meeting with Provost R. Michael Tanner, Executive Vice Provost Clark Hulse, LAS Dean Christopher Comer, supportive faculty, and LAS department heads to discuss the future of AAS at UIC. This meeting will determine the administration’s commitment to the creation of AAS at UIC. By hiring tenure faculty and establishing an AAS program, UIC will prosper in fulfilling its mission to “take special account and advantage of the extraordinary ethnic and cultural diversity of the Chicago metropolitan area.”

Asian Americans’ contributions in U.S. history have been historically omitted from mainstream education. With more Asian Americanist faculty hires to teach the histories and cultures of Asian Americans, UIC will continue to thrive as a Research I institution. Without commitment from the administration to hire more faculty to develop an Asian American Studies program, UIC students and the largest minority group on campus, nearly one-fourth Asian American, will be left underserved and unheard.