 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
Asian-Americans at Yale
It's funny how, coming from a predominantly Asian high school and neighborhood to Yale, where thebest Chinese food comes from the Main Garden take out restaurant and the dining halls manage to make plain white rice unappetizing, I have immersed myself in the Asian-American community and, in the process, gained a greater understanding of what it is to be Asian-American.The moment I set foot on the Yale campus I was bombarded by the smiling members of numerous Asian student groups vying for my time and energy. Not wanting to turn any of them down, I signed up for just about all of them. The Asian American Students Association (AASA) is the umbrella organization for the eight main Asian-American ethnic groups, including the Taiwanese-American Society (TAS), the Vietnamese Students Association (ViSA), Korean-American Students at Yale (KASY), and the South Asian Society (SAS). There are also a number of smaller sub-organizations, like Unity, a Korean drum troupe, the Yale Chinese American Journal (YCAJ), and the East Coast Asian Student Union (ECASU), a team of students planning a pan-Asian conference to be held at Yale next February.
My roommate often jokes that my life at Yale has been taken over by acronyms—which is for the most part true. The different friends I have made through the various ethnic groups are all incredibly supportive. My freshman year has been intense. Every day is an adventure, filled with fond memories like steaming dumplings and boiling ramen noodles for friends studying for midterms, or practicing Judo in the gym. This year, I willingly sacrificed precious paper-writing time to attend cultural shows, organize study breaks at the Asian-American Cultural Center, plan conferences, listen to speakers for Asian-Pacific-American Heritage Month in April, participate in kung fu skits and hip-hop dance groups, and watch my friends bare their souls and perform autobiographical writings about their experiences as Asian-Americans.
While Yale lacks the numbers of Asian-Americans at universities like Berkeley or Stanford, it makes up for that fact in the intimacy and comfort of a close-knit and active Asian student population. I'm thankful I have had the opportunity to become a leader within the Asian-American community. It's not perfect here, of course—Yale has yet to make a commitment to ethnic studies and tenuring more minority faculty—but at least I know I can play an active role in bringing about such changes.
—Liana Chang
All materials © 2000 The Yale Herald, Inc., and its staff.
Got any questions, comments, or advice? Email the online editors at
online@yaleherald.com.
Like to join us?