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.