Center celebrates 25 years of Asian studies
Reunion unites both founders and students
By Betty Song
Celebrating its 25th birthday, UCLA’s Asian American Studies
Center is now older than many of its students.
But students speaking during the ceremony acknowledged the
efforts of founding alumni in the audience for making the silver
anniversary possible.
To begin a year of festivities, the Asian American Studies
Center held an opening ceremony at the James West Alumni Center on
Saturday. The event reunited several generations of Bruins who
gathered to relive or relearn the creation of the one of the
nation’s largest centers for Asian American studies.
Sitting beside a display of the center’s reading room
literature, former staff member Elsie Osajima said that after 20
years as an administrative assistant, she couldn’t help but become
attached.
"I’m just coming back to see a lot of old friends and to support
the center," said Osajima who is currently co-chair of a
fundraising group for the reading room.
Osajima explained the unique circumstances that allowed her to
be part of the staff from the beginning. "Students were allowed to
make their own selection and present it to personnel, so I was
actually brought in by the students," she recalled, adding that
students continue to have strong input regarding center staff.
Students who couldn’t experience history firsthand said they
came to the ceremony to listen to those who did.
Jeff Ow, a first-year Asian American studies graduate student,
said he wanted to learn more about the center that has given him
opportunities unavailable elsewhere.
"I’m very impressed with the (center’s) resources. It has more
information than any other college," Ow said. "I don’t know too
much about the particulars, like the names and faces behind the
activist movements that led to the formation (of the center)."
UCLA history professor Yuji Ichioka’s keynote address gave a
detailed account of the political activism and social upheavals of
the late 1960s preceding the center’s birth on July 1, 1969. He
highlighted the demonstrations for ethnic studies that took place
at several California colleges.
These protests placed pressures on UCLA’s administration to
create what was then known as the "Oriental American Program,"
Ichioka said.
"Our achievements in the beginning emerged from a hostile,
unreceptive environment and without the recognition of the
legitimacy of Asian American studies," said Ichioka, who taught
UCLA’s first Asian American class called ‘Orientals in America.
‘"
Present politics need to be seen in light of past politics,
Ichioka added. He proposed that Proposition 187 was symbolic of the
past, and cautioned Asian Americans to recognize the nation’s
political move toward the right.
Musical and poetic interludes helped illustrate the center’s
historical achievements. Humorous renditions of traditional songs
and poems tailored for the center shaped the program.
"I liked the diversity of the presentation  the speeches,
music, humor and anecdotes," said Pawan Dhingra, who is currently
applying for the Asian American studies graduate program.
After the early founders and creators related their stories,
students had their turn to speak to the crowd. Members from the
Asian Pacific Coalition  an advocacy group for UCLA’s Asian
Pacific population  and the Asian American studies graduate
program described their past achievements and future plans.
Ensuring this kind of student involvement in the celebration was
a main goal, said Vivian Tseng, an event coordinator.
"As a student coordinator, it was important to make sure
students had a voice," said Tseng a fourth year psychology student
specializing in Asian American studies, "They were vital in the
formation (of the center) and the past 25 years."
Although the Asian Pacific Coalition did not exist when the
center was founded, their address showed the continuation of its
struggles, Tseng added.
The opening ceremony provided a backdrop for a year long
celebration showcasing 25 years of political, social and artistic
achievements of the Asian American Studies Center. The next event
will be the first installment in a lecture series titled "The Long
March: Twenty-five Years of Asian American Studies" Jan. 24.
For more information on the year’s events, call the center’s
main office at (310) 825-2974.