Article: "Caught Between Two Cultures"

This is an article from a while back, August 2008, about Cornell's mental health services for Asian/Asian American students. The article's punctuation marks aren't showing up for me, so I replaced them with my own guesses.

Caught Between Two Cultures

by Phuong Ly
Aug 21, 2008, 13:42

Efforts to reach Asian students with culturally appropriate mental health services are paying off.

In many ways, Asian students at Cornell University seem like a successful group. At the competitive Ivy League school, they make up about 17 percent of the student body--by far the school's largest minority.

But the stereotype of Asians as brainy, quiet "model minorities" helps hide serious problems. Of the 14 suicides between 1997 and 2007, eight were students of Asian descent. In anonymous health surveys, Asians were more likely than White students to say they had difficulties with stress, sleep and feelings of hopelessness--and yet they were less likely to seek counseling.

White students may wrestle with the same problems, but tend to get help or be helped sooner, says Dr. Wai-Kwong Wong, a counselor at Cornell's Gannett Health Services.

"To a large extent, it's not just a mental health issue; it's a community issue," Wong says. "A lot of the issues that students were presented with have to do with their environment and their sense of community or lack thereof."

Cornell officials were jolted into action after a university-sponsored report in 2004 detailed the sense of isolation and dissatisfaction among Asian American and international Asian students. Four of the 25 counselors or therapists at the student health center are now of Asian descent, compared to just one previously. Counselors have expanded outreach efforts to include walk-in hours at various campus sites rather than simply waiting for students to make appointments. And this fall, the university plans to hire an assistant dean of students who will focus on working with Asian students.

Breaking Through Cultural Barriers

Cornell has been unique in publicizing statistics such as the number of suicides, but other universities have also recognized the need to diversify their counseling staff and expand outreach efforts. Last year, the University of California-Davis launched the Asian American Center on Disparities Research, which focuses on mental health issues. The center, funded by a $3.9 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, coordinates research from 18 universities.

College can be a tough time for any student, regardless of ethnicity. But many Asians face particular stresses as they are caught between two cultures, according to Dr. Nolan Zane, director of the UC-Davis center.

Asians are expected by mainstream society to do well. And if they're from an immigrant family, the expectations are even higher. Students may feel pressured into "safe" career paths like medicine or law.

"In immigrant families, the children essentially upgrade the status of the family and usually its through educational means," says Zane, who is also a professor in the psychology and Asian American studies programs at UC-Davis. The same issues are seen among international students from Asia.

When problems such as social anxiety and depression arise, cultural barriers prevent many from seeking help. Talking about problems to outsiders is considered taboo and shameful. Getting help from family often isn't an option either. Many Asians attach a strong stigma to mental health problems or simply deny their existence.

Zane recalls that the parents of a Chinese American student couldn't understand why he recommended that their son get counseling. The parents thought their distraught son, whose grades were slipping, just needed to study harder. "Even for the ones getting into treatment, there are higher rates of dropping out [of therapy]," Zane says. "Counselors need to try to determine what kinds of cultural factors get in the way of appropriate care."

Dr. Henry Chung, associate vice president for student health at New York University, says that outreach to Asians is harder also because they tend to not be identified as "problem" students.

"People who have disruptive behavior are more likely to be identified and receive help," says Chung, a psychiatrist. "Asian people tend not to be disruptive. The culture is so enforcing and all encompassing about how you express your emotions in public settings. There's a lot going on under the radar screen."

Two years ago, Chung designed a study at NYU and seven other universities that required student health centers to screen every visitor for depression, regardless of the reason for the visit. According to Chung, most people are more willing to go to a primary health clinic than to a place that is designated for mental health services.

In several of the schools, the number of Asian students screened and helped was proportional to their population on campus. The result was encouraging, Chung says, because usually Asian students won't seek help until their problem becomes an emergency.

"If we are going to do anything from a public health standpoint, we need to detect problems earlier," Chung says. This summer, Chung began expanding his project to 30 campuses.

Erasing the Stigma

At Cornell, the efforts that started four years ago are starting to yield results. From the time he was a freshman until he graduated in May, Timothy Chow witnessed a dramatic change in awareness about mental health issues among his fellow Asian classmates.

In response to the university report on Asian students, Chow and several friends organized a group to advocate for changes. At the initial meetings, fewer than 10 students expressed interest. Chow says that many students likely shied away because they didn't want to be associated with mental health issues.

But this past school year, two events on stress relief sponsored by the Asian/Asian-American Forum attracted more than 100 people each. The fairs featured massage therapists, yoga sessions and presentations from a nutritionist and counselors.

"We didn't want to be really preachy to students and say if you're sad and depressed, come here," says Chow, who is now working in New York at a health care union. "We didn't want to make our community feel targeted in any singular way. We talked more about prevention, that the environment of stress is there and this is how you prevent yourself from being stressed."

Outreach efforts from Cornell's counselors also seem to be attracting students who have shunned traditional counseling services, according to Wong, of the health services center. Preliminary statistics show that about 13 percent of those who use the informal walk-in counseling sites are Asian American and 17 percent are international students (most of them from Asia). The numbers of those who come into the clinic are lower: 9 percent are Asian Americans and 10 percent are international students.

But the good news about mental health awareness is also leading to other concerns.

Bhavna Devani, a graduate student in political science, says that Asian American issues are at risk of becoming synonymous with mental health issues. She feels that university officials are dragging their feet on creating an Asian/Asian American community center because so much progress has been made on mental health awareness. Both recommendations on improvements in counseling and creating a community center were part of the 2004 university report on Asian students.

Devani, a member of the community center committee, says the goals of a center are to help forge identity and social consciousness--not simply mental health. "When we make mental health synonymous with integration, we risk painting all Asians and Asian Americans at Cornell as somehow lacking in mental health," Devani says.

In April, a student wrote a posting on a Cornell news blog joking that an Asian center would be built next to the library. Such a location, he wrote, would help prevent studious Asians from committing suicide.

The posting was written after the school administration officially approved support for a center. After the blog was overwhelmed with protests, the writer issued an apology.

Wong says he has feared such stereotyping of Asian students particularly after last year's shooting at Virginia Tech. Seung-Hui Cho, a Korean American student, killed 32 people before committing suicide in the deadliest campus shooting rampage by a gunman in U.S. history.

"Mainly we want people to see that Asian and Asian Americans are like anybody else," Wong says. "They're not perfect like the model minority myth nor are they all time bombs waiting to explode. We have to try to find that balance."

A3C Director/Asst Dean Has Arrived, Welcome Reception Next Week!

As a reminder, Patricia Nguyen has officially started working at Cornell as of today! Stop by and say hi; she would love to get to meet everyone. Her office is located in Willard Straight, Room 208 (where the Office of Student Support is housed). Her email is pcn29@cornell.edu.

Also, a welcome reception for Patricia will happen on Tuesday, April 28th at 4:30pm at the Asian American Resource Center, 4th floor Rockefeller. Make sure you put this in your calendars!

We also have a Facebook invite. Click to invite yourselves!

Funeral March & Articles about Them

Yesterday, April 2nd, some A3C Committee members joined with other people of color and LGBT people to observe a symbolic funeral for diversity on campus.

Here was the press release for it:

Funeral for Program Houses and safe spaces at Cornell. Students gather to mourn the loss of safe spaces for minorities at Cornell.

Procession to Ho Plaza will start at 12:15pm in front of Sibley Hall on

Thursday April 2, 2009.

Funeral begins at 12:30 on Ho Plaza.

Please dress in black.

Cornell University is regarded as a forward thinking institution committed to diversity and inclusiveness, with a program house system that is respected throughout the country.

However, the university’s purposeful marginalization of these spaces has created the conditions for them to be degraded and disregarded. Cornell’s current policies and attitudes, if continued, will ensure the disappearance of these spaces in the near future.

We are gathering as concerned members of the community to raise awareness of Cornell’s present-day policies and attitudes so that we can prevent this outcome. Specifically, we come to raise awareness for Ujamaa, Latino Living Center, Akwe:kon, Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Support Services and the Asian/Asian American Center.

We are aware that these spaces are not currently defunct, however, if action is not taken, they will disappear in the future. The funeral is symbolic of the impending consequences of inaction.

Contact thecoalitioncu@gmail.com for questions.

The Cornell Sun also came out with a front page article reporting on it and an op-ed piece:

• Article: "C.U. Minorities Stage Mock Funeral, Ask for Greater Univ. Support" - The title is actually not accurate, but it is beyond the control of the reporter--news editors are the only ones making these titles. First, it implies that only "minorities" should care about diversity. Second, participants of the march are not only asking for greater support, but support that used to be there but were cut or subtly being phased out.
• Op-Ed: "A New Vision for Program Houses" - A great article written by three community leaders. It sheds light on how the administration has been dealing with diversity problematically and how it can make changes that actually work as they are supposed to.
• Op-Ed: "Running the Risk of Whitewashing History" - A somewhat related article about the WSH Takeover from 1969.
  

Interim A3C Floor Plan

Here is the floor plan of the interim A3C. Click on the image for a larger view.

The shaded rectangle on the bottom of the picture was our space. Right now, we are able to use the "secret" chapter room space as well, which would practically double the size we had originally. Renovations include breaking down the blocked doorways to the chapter room and making new walls around the two offices and restroom (left corner of image).

If you want a better copy, I can try sending the PDF to you. Shoot me an email.

Recent Editorials/Articles

1. Anti-A3C Editorial by Anthony Liu, dated 3/4/09

Check out the comments under the editorial.

By the way, if Cornell administrators say they support program housing, it's about time they speak up on this issue--publicly--and why they support it. While the A3C will not be a program house, program houses and the A3C (as well as the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center) are safe spaces for oppressed groups to gather and have resources devoted to their needs.

2. Response to Liu by Kevin Cheng, Irene Li, & Olivia Tai, dated 3/5/09

----------------------------------------------------------

3. Unrelated to what's above: Chronicle article, dated 3/6/09, reporting on Monday's forum and updates about A3C.

Is anyone else bothered that this center is always called "Asian center" in the media?

Thank you for attending Monday's Forum!

Hi all,

Thank you for attending Monday's A3C Forum! With your tough questions and take-no-crap attitude, we showed the administrators that they have to be accountable to us, despite the reality of the economic downturn. The fact is, the A3C project is both a tiny and necessary initiative that Asian/Asian American communities deserve.

1) For future reference and to keep a good account of what the administration said,

Alex Berg's article is a great summary of what was discussed: http://cornellsun.com/node/35721. If you have any comments/constructive criticism, she would like to hear from you (aberg@cornellsun.com).

Clara Ng-Quinn, Kevin Cheng, Janelle Teng, and Susan Duan have recorded some chunks of the forum.

• For the first few minutes, check out Clara's link: http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?ref=mb#/video/video.php?v=616819292035
• For the last hour or so, check out Kevin's link: http://www.archive.org/details/2008CornellA3cForum-March2nd
• We are still waiting on other clips.
  

If anyone else has recorded any part of the forum or has taken photos, please let me know.

2) For those who attended, please help the A3C Committee archive what happened!

• Email me your notes/thoughts from the forum - even one sentence helps a lot.
• Link me to your photos or recordings of the forum.
• Please volunteer to listen to five or so minutes of a clip we will assign you to. You do not have to transcribe everything--only what you feel deserves attention.
  

A3C Forum - THIS Monday!

Dear friends,

We, the students, staff, faculty, and administrators on the Committee for the Asian/Asian American Center (A3C), invite you to attend the second community forum addressing the A3C. This forum will be a unique opportunity to engage with Cornell's top administrators with concerns regarding the resources for communities on campus.

In the spring of 2008, we held the first forum to address the needs of the Asian and Asian American community at Cornell. Top administrators pledged their commitment to establishing A3C and called for the formation of a committee to oversee its implementation. Present at this forum were President David Skorton, Vice President Susan Murphy, Dean of Students Kent Hubbell, and Vice Provost David Harris.

Now, a year later, our administration will again speak on A3C. At this new forum, A3C committee members will update the public on the progress of A3C, as well as the next steps to be taken in the future. President Skorton and Dean Hubbell will be present at this forum to address the administration's stance on A3C and to answer your questions.

This forum is open to all members of the Cornell community and friends. We would appreciate it if you would forward this invitation to your friends and email lists.

Here are the details:

Date: Monday, March 2
Time: 6:30 - 8:00pm

Location: HEC Auditorium, Goldwin Smith

Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=52922927529

See you at the forum!

We are happy to announce that...

The Assistant Dean of Students for Asian/Asian American Outreach is finally hired! Patricia Nguyen is filling two positions, as she will also be the Director of the A3C. Patricia will begin work on April 20th. We look forward to hearing more information from Associate Dean of Students Tanni Hall in the days to come.

no actual updates about the A3C...

...because the administration has not provided us with any. But I have five items to discuss with you:

1) An A3C community forum will take place in late February or March, after the CAAA Pan-Asian banquet (see Item 4 below), where Pres. Skorton, VP Murphy, and Dean Hubbell will answer questions about the A3C. There, we should put more pressure on the administration to finish the A3C as soon as possible.

Two students on the committee (Bhavna Devani and Susan Duan) are leaving Cornell in May, and I won't be far behind. We are concerned that they are stalling us until current Asian/Asian American student leaders leave the school, and then they will let the initiatives die again. We should try our hardest to not let this happen. That includes telling new students, regardless of undergrad or grad status, about our efforts and the importance of their involvement.

2) We have been submitting articles to the Bully Pulpit (see previous entry for more info). See the January 21st issue for my article on the history of our A3C movement. The next issue, which will be published around February 4th, will have Bhavna's article on why the A3C should and can be funded during this recession. If you are interested in writing, let me know! We expect to publish at least one article in BP for the rest of this semester.

3) Are you interested in tabling for A3C during CAPSU's annual Asia Night event? Asia Night is happening Saturday, February 21st this year. It has always been a grand event, which will helpful to recruiting more people for the A3C effort. At the very least, people can sign up for the mailing list and stay informed about efforts for our Center.

If you are interested in tabling for half an hour--or longer--please let me know. You won't be tabling alone, and we'll make it fun, I promise :)

4) The Cornell Asian Alumni Association (CAAA) is holding a banquet in NYC on Sat, February 21st as well. Some members of the A3C Committee may attend, but certainly Kent Hubbell and Renee Alexander will be there. This year, the banquet's proceeds will go into A3C funding, which is old but always good news.

5) I found out that you can subscribe to this A3C blog through Atom. Scroll down to the way bottom of the page, and click on "Posts (Atom)." I can't give you more details than that, as I am technologically illiterate, but if you subscribe to the blog, you should be emailed whenever I make a new post. That way, you can get the latest news on the A3C without me having to email you personally! Win-win.

Take care,
Caroline

Call for Writers about the A3C!

Hi all,

Hope you're enjoying the break and whatever holidays you might be celebrating.

I'm issuing a call for articles about the A3C.

Over the next few issues of the biweekly Bully Pulpit, Executive Editor Alex Immerman and I would like at least one article per issue on the importance of our Center. This would increase publicity of the project and demonstrate to the public the importance of its existence.

Feel free to think beyond informative or news-based articles. Personal reflections about what the Center means to you, why you want it, and/or your vision of it are most welcome. An open letter to the Cornell administration or the entire campus is also encouraged.

Below are some of Alex's suggestions:

Ideally the article needs to speak to a broad audience, which doesn't necessarily know what A3C is, why it is important, or what can be done to help its progress.

What is the A3C and how did it come into being (who, when, why)? Why is A3C important? Specifically, what are the needs of Asian and Asian American students that are not being met at Cornell, and what would A3C do to help remedy the situation?

How do these issues relate (if at all) to issues surrounding the establishment of other cultural centers on campus (such as the program houses)?

Since Asian and Asian American represents a very broad category, encapsulating students of a number of nationalities, ethnicities, and cultures, how have students from such different backgrounds worked cooperatively to formulate and achieve a common goal? Have there been any setbacks or struggles as a result?

What has been holding back progress on the A3C, what are some challenges that have been overcome and some that continue to stall development of the center?

How has the A3C campaign been supported/opposed by students and administration? How does it relate to the broader issues of race and racism at Cornell?

How does the A3C benefit the non-Asian/Asian American community? i.e. does it make the campus climate (as a whole) better by focusing on one group's needs? Does it involve cultural learning opportunities for non-Asian/Asian American students? How does the A3C mesh with general formulations of multiculturalism (rejection of assimilation approaches, perhaps?)?

What can students, alums, faculty and staff to do to help?

Anyone who is interested, please email me!

It doesn't matter what your relation to Cornell is, who you personally identify as, or what your involvement with the Asian/Asian American Center project has been.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to hear responses from you soon.

Caroline

Stay Tuned...

Hi all,

There was an A3C Committee meeting on Wednesday, 11/19, after Kent Hubbell returned from his trip to China.

There were only small updates:

• Kent announced the approximate costs of the Center--if it were to stay in Willard Straight Hall, which is still uncertain at this point. There were two estimates, both of which were under $2 million. The numbers include air conditioning installment, the elevator/LULA construction, furniture, and asbestos treatment.
  
• President Skorton wants to meet with the Committee right after Thanksgiving break, in between his two international trips. There is no indication of what kind of discussion might be happening, or whether the entire A3C project would go ahead at all.
  
• If architect plans are approved by December 1st, the project may be completed by August 21, 2009. The plans will not be approved by then because the administration is not providing the Committee with anything solid, whether through finalizing the A3C's location or assigning a fundraiser to the A3C project.
  

We are disappointed with the administration's inaction. Please keep sending your comments to David Skorton, Susan Murphy, and Kent Hubbell. Even one paragraph expressing your desire for the Center makes all the difference.

The Center cannot happen without your support.

Forums

If you've read your email recently, you've seen Pres. Skorton's general/slightly vague plans about how to deal with the current (and in most cases deepening) recession.

The A3C is a project that has waited for decades to recieve a pittance of cash. One of the biggest reasons is to institutionalize the ridiculous efforts of generations of students who try to make the campus a place where Asian and Asian Americans want to be.

The "hiring pause" and halting of construction projects will most definitely negatively affect the A3C's progress unless you attend the forums noted below

Wednesday, November 5 at noon in Bailey Hall

Thursday, November 6 at 4 P.M. in the Statler Auditorium

and leave a comment at: http://assembly.cornell.edu/Suggestions/2008FallFinancialSavings#toc38

Drop Skorton and the administration a line. Let them know that a million or two in the face of Cornell's current (and possibly also paused) 4 billion dollar campaign is an incredibly small cost to serve nearly 20% of the student population with something they've been requesting for a decade or more.

As Kent Hubbell would put it, it should be a "no-brainer" to establish this Center immediately!

This center is not my center, or your center or even the A3C committee's center. It's ours and it takes us to make it a reality.

Go Comment on the Cornell Website

Hi all,

If you have checked your Cornell webmail lately, you should have received an email from Pres. Skorton (click here to view) stating that construction projects, especially those not under a contract, will be stalled due to the "current economic crisis." It shouldn't apply to the A3C effort, since many Asian/Asian American alumni are vocally and financially supportive of the Center--if only Cornell's administrators were willing to set aside a fundraiser/promotions person for this specific project, which they haven't. Think also of how much this tiny, 1,400 sq. ft. of space should cost--less than $2 million. As Kent Hubbell would put it, it should be a "no-brainer" to establish this Center immediately!

Yet, the administration keeps on delaying this tiny, much-needed project, and the Asian/Asian American Center Committee is frustrated. I briefly voiced our frustrations here: http://assembly.cornell.edu/Suggestions/2008FallFinancialSavings#toc38

. Please also put in your two cents on the "suggestions box" I just linked you to. It is important to let the administration know what other students and alumni are concerned about.

If you have any questions about this email or what I wrote on the Cornell website, do not hesitate to ask me.

Thanks,
Caroline

Editorial about the A3C

Hi all,

This editorial just came out today, written by a Sun staff writer. It's a short but eloquent read, so don't miss it!

Have a good weekend, everyone. We'll see if there are better updates during today's A3C Committee meeting.

Great Article on the A3C

Article published today on the Cornell Daily Sun.
Very accurate in terms of both the facts and the sentiments of students on the A3C Committee.

To discuss it, come to our info session TODAY at Goldwin Smith 156 @ 6pm!

Two More Info Sessions on the A3C

What is the A3C, other than standing for the Asian/Asian American Center? Why is it important? What are the difficulties?

What can you do to help?

To find the answers, we invite you to attend one of our info sessions.

Session #1:
Date: Tuesday, Oct 21 (tomorrow!)
Time: 6pm
Place: Goldwin Smith 156

Session #2:
Date: Wednesday, Oct 22
Time: 6pm
Place: Goldwin Smith 156

Let us know if you can make it at csn7@cornell.edu. If you can't make either of these sessions and still want to attend one, please let us know as well! We would very much appreciate it if you could all circulate this email to your friends and groups.

Once again, the goal of this Center is to provide university support for Asian and Asian American students and provide a space for community-building, cultural celebration, and the development of an Asian/Asian American consciousness. We are currently working with the administration on plans for the Center, but, as outlined in the form letter, we have run into some problems. We hope that with the support of a large number of students and their parents we can overcome these problems and see the creation of this Center.

Sincerely,

Bhavna Devani
Samantha Dong
Susan Duan
Caroline Hugh
Jonathan Pomboza
Clara Ng-Quinn

Students of the A3C Committee

form letter to administration

Hi everyone,

Please email this form letter to President Skorton, Vice President Murphy, and Dean of Students Hubbell. Their emails are: david.skorton@cornell.edu, shm1@cornell.edu, klh4@cornell.edu

Thank you!

Form letter:

Dear President Skorton, Vice President Murphy, and Dean Hubbell,

I was made aware of an Asian/Asian American Center initiative that was created in the semester of spring '08. At the time, I was very excited to hear of it because I truly believe that it is vital to have such a resource on campus, and I was very eager to see progress on the initiative during the upcoming months. Now that we are in the fall '08 semester, I have heard very disappointing news regarding the Center. From what I understand, renovations for the Center were supposed to have started by now, but it has been delayed due to bureaucratic processes within the University, such as accessibility issues within Willard Straight Hall, and uncertainty about the budget availability. While accessibility is a very important quality, it has been a problem that has been in Willard Straight for many decades. The Asian/Asian American Center project should be separate from this issue, not contingent on it.

As a concerned member of the Cornell community, I am deeply dismayed about these delays. I was under the impression that the Center would be ready to open by March '09, but with these bureaucratic problems, this deadline seems more and more impossible to be met. I worry that the Center will not come into existence by the time current students graduate.

I urge you, as the top administrators, to do everything in your power to expedite the creation of the Asian/Asian American Center. At the community forum in March '08, all of you promised your commitment to the creation of the Center. I and the rest of the Cornell community demand that you act on this commitment immediately.

Sincerely,

Action Items to Keep A3C Momentum Going!

A3C stands for "Asian/Asian American Center." It is a space for programming, mentorship, advising, cultural celebration, and education--not a living center. For a brief history of the movement for the A3C, visit the October 4th entry.

Please help out with any one of these projects or make your own suggestions! We (students on the A3C Committee and Cornell at large) can't establish the Center without your help!

• Form letters for students, parents, and alumni to send to administrators
• Info sessions to all people of color organizations to (1) get them informed and (2) get their support in the A3C effort
• News story in Daily Sun
• Op-ed in Daily Sun by (1) Committee member and/or (2) concerned student and/or (3) concerned alum
• Contact faculty and administrators who support our cause
• Contact alumni who support our cause
• Publicize during Trustee/Council Weekend
• Publicize during Family Weekend
• Forum about what has been accomplished for the A3C so far. Administrators invited to speak and be asked questions by community members.

a brief history about A3C

Hi all,

Some of you are new to the Asian/Asian American Center effort, and some of you might want reminding. Feel free to read an article Ri Turner and I wrote during the summer for the Asian American Studies Program.

http://www.aasp.cornell.edu/connections_2008.pdf - Go to pages 4 and 5.

I am also reposting it here.

The 2007-2008 academic year was a milestone year for the Cornell Asian and Asian American (AAA) community.

First, in February 2008, Cornell hosted the East Coast Asian American Student Union (ECAASU) conference for the third time in ECAASU’s thirty-one year history. It was a record-breaking gathering, with over 1,500 AAA students from across the country in attendance. There were performances with open and free admission that Cornell students and local residents could attend. In addition to the cross-campus collaboration that the conference facilitated, ECAASU helped foster Cornell’s own AAA student community. Students who had not previously been involved in AAA campus organizing energetically participated in the organizing effort for ECAASU, and veteran leaders were happy to see that some of them continued their involvement throughout the semester in other AAA student efforts.

The second major AAA campus effort of the year was the launch of the A3C, which is the Asian and Asian American Center planning organization. Thanks to the efforts of the A3C, the Cornell administration has convened a committee to create the Center. The committee consists of undergraduates, graduates, faculty, and staff, and it is co-chaired by Dean of Students Kent Hubbell and Human Ecology undergraduate Caroline Hugh ‘10. The committee aims to create an AAA center on campus, a hub that would offer space for community-building, cultural celebration, and the development of an AAA consciousness—similar to what spaces such as the Africana Studies and Research Center, the Latino Studies Program, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Resource Center currently do for other marginalized populations on campus.

The Center has been a long time coming. The most recent developments began in 2004 with the publication of the Asian and Asian American Task Force Report. The report examined the recruitment, retention, and satisfaction of AAA students and concluded that the AAA community was being underserved at Cornell*. Specifically, the report placed high priorities on two recommendations: first, that an assistant dean position be created in the Office of Student Support to oversee institutional efforts to meet the unique needs of the AAA population; and second, that a community center space be established on campus for the AAA community. The Assistant Dean position was created last October, and Associate Dean of Students Tanni Hall is currently coordinating the search for candidates to fill that position. However, in response to the slow-footed progress on the community center space, a coalition of students created the A3C organization to encourage institutional compliance with the second Task Force Report priority recommendation.

Student efforts for the A3C began during the fall semester of 2007, when leaders asked the undergraduate Student Assembly to support Resolution 8. The resolution cited findings in the 2004 Task Force Report as the main justification for an AAA center and declared that it was time the university followed up on this initiative. After a thoughtful discussion, the Student Assembly passed Resolution 8 on November 8, 2007, officially lending student government support to the creation of the Center. During the spring semester, A3C focused on encouraging upper levels of administration to comply with the Student Assembly resolution. On March 31, 2008, a panel of administrators including President David Skorton, Vice President Susan Murphy, Deputy Provost David Harris, and Dean of Students Kent Hubbell expressed to a packed audience their commitment to make the proposed center a reality.

President Skorton and Vice President Murphy then called together a committee specifically for the development of the A3C. The committee met weekly for the remainder of the spring semester. Most of the meetings focused on revising A3C’s program definition, objectives, and programming ideas. The discussions built on the rough proposal that student committee members had drafted for the Center. The last two meetings focused especially on prospective spaces for the center. Currently, Dean Hubbell favors a space in one of the lower levels of Willard Straight Hall. The committee recognizes that such a space would be useful temporarily in establishing an interim center, but in the long term, the committee agrees that it is essential for the Center to have its own building.

Now that the 2007-2008 academic year is over, AAA campus community organizers look back with mixed feelings: we have seen a marked increase in the closeness, consciousness, and empowerment of the AAA community and its allies. However, we have also faced significant delays from the administration in acknowledging our unique needs and strengths as a community. As always, we end the year pushing forward—there is always more work to do.

* For the full version of the AAATF report, visit http://www.gannett.cornell.edu/downloads/campusIniatives/mentalhealth/AAATFreport2004.pdf .

A3C is a coalition of students, faculty, staff, and alumni. We welcome feedback and involvement from all walks of Cornell life.

Caroline Hugh is a junior in the college of Human Ecology. She can be reached at ch455@cornell.edu.

Ri Turner is a senior in the college of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at rjt23@cornell.edu.

Get the Administration to Address Asian/Asian American Issues!

Please circulate widely among your listservs. Please write a letter to the email addresses below about your concerns.

PROBLEMS

• Asian/Asian American students—nearly 20%of Cornell’s population—feel more disconnected from the Cornell community than any other demographic.
• Students and researchers have made formal recommendations for over six years—but the administration has dragged its feet, providing little assistance.
• Most recently the administration has suggested an inaccessible storage space in Willard Straight Hall and rescinded a promise of financial support.
  

SOLUTIONS

• Hiring an Assistant Dean for Asian/Asian American Student Support.
• Providing students with a fully staffed program center large enough to serve the huge Asian/Asian American population.
• Making these a reality within the next year.
  

Improving Cornell is only possible through your vocal and financial support.

Please write letters to David Skorton, Susan Murphy, David Harris, and Kent Hubbell (president@cornell.edu, djs98@cornell.edu, shm1@cornell.edu, drh36@cornell.edu, klh4@cornell.edu) about the lack of university services. Encourage students, parents, and alumni to do the same!

Contact Caroline Hugh (ch455@cornell.edu) for further information.