UIC Today : March 10, 2001

"Stir-Friday Night!" returns UIC campus for free show

Submitted by Event Organizers

Chicago-Stir-Friday Night!, the Midwest's premier Asian-American Comedy Theater, returned to the University of Illinois Circle Campus for their 2nd Annual Free Show. Sponsored by the Coalition for Asian American Studies (CAAS) and Provost's Office, the purpose of the event was to promote Asian American arts and foster awareness on campus to help achieve the organization's ultimate goals: Asian American Studies Program, Asian American Cultural Center and Asian American Academic Support Network.

"CAAS has worked diligently to acquire its goals," says Choky Lim from SFN!. "With the largest minority population on campus [around 25%], it is surprising that Asian Americans have had the least amount of institutional support from the University, not even a cultural center."

The CAAS sponsored Stir-Friday Night! show last year drew in a large multiethnic crowd to lend support to the issues of Asian Americans on campus. And with the rock band KIM aboard, this year's show promised to keep the momentum going, with even greater support from the students and community. The Illinois Room was packed with students, faculty, and community members, who rocked their heads with the electric tunes of KIM and laughed their heads off with the wits of SFN! "Both groups are awesome and it's great to see Asian American faces out there on the stage, we don't see it enough. It's important for the Asian American community, especially students, to have such role models too," voiced student Marina Issac during the question and answer session after the program with the performers.

CAAS was established just over a year ago to address the lack of university support for Asian Americans. Last year, a Chancellor's Committee for the Status of Asian Americans was established, the only Chancellor's Committee that was student initiated, which came more than twenty years after the establishment of the other status committees, including the Chancellor's Committee on the Status of Blacks; Latinos; Women; Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual issues; and Persons with Disabilities.

Last year, students from CAAS successfully lobbied to hire UIC's first Asian Americanist, Rocio Davis, a Filipina from Spain, to the English Department. Professor Davis has been teaching various Asian American literature classes and has also organized UIC's first ever Asian American Writers Conference. Last year, CAAS also hosted the first Asian American Awareness Week, Asian Pacific Americans Teaching Illinois Through Education (APATITE) Student Leadership Conference, Asiantasian, and is currently planning, with many other Asian American student organizations at UIC, Asian American Awareness Month for March, 2001. CAAS has brought awareness to the students, faculty and administration. UIC's Student Trustee, Arun Reddy; USG President, Joe Steinfels; Provost Tate; and several faculty and administrators from the English Department and LAS have supported this initiative. No commitments, however, have yet been made for a Cultural Center or Academic Network and possibilities of having a permanent position for an Asian Americanist are still being talked about. Asian American students are currently working together and organizing to create a unified voice to more effectively work with the administration and bring about legitimate commitments and positive action.