Association of Asian American Graduate Students

Presentation to

Graduate School Deans & Directors

April 16, 2008

About AAAGS

Our organization serves as a network to improve the quality of life for graduate students who identify as Asian American.

Re-chartered in 2006, we offer a growing number of annual activities that focus on academic support, social networking, and community building.

Updates are via email: uw.aaags@gmail.com, blogger: www.aaags.blogspot.com and facebook

AAAGS Signature Events

Fall Semester Terrace Mixer Kickoff Harvest Moon Festival

Potluck Mentoring for

Undergraduates Graduate Student Panel Leadership Potluck Activism Workshop

Spring Semester Lunar New Year Potluck Dinner & Dialogue Asian American Film

Festival Asian American Voices End of the Year Mixer

Informal events

Study groups Celebration of academic milestones Surrogate family for holidays Informal dinners at local restaurants and members’ homes

Impact on UW-Madison Campus

Raises awareness on social and cultural issues about and among Asian Americans (email reaches over 90 graduate student members; facebook group has 65 members)

Increases graduate students networks across different fields/disciplines

Brings together grads, undergrads, faculty, staff, and community leaders/activists

Direct and indirect mentorship resulting in undergraduates pursuing fellowships and graduate school opportunities.

Future Goals Continue collaborating with GSC Foster networks with MGN and C-GRS Increase awareness of AAAGS in the Graduate School Continue building alliances with and amongst faculty Continue fostering relationships with academic staff and administrators Increase visibility among incoming graduate students Institutionalize undergraduate mentorship program Foster a better understanding of Asian American graduate students

Planning Meeting Spring 2006

Who are Asian Americans? (snapshot) East Asian Group

Chinese Taiwanese Japanese Korean Hong Kong

South Asians Asian Indians Tibetans Nepalese Burmese Pakistani

Pacific Islanders Filipinos Hawaiians Indonesians

Southeast Asian Group Vietnamese Hmong Laotian Cambodian Malaysians Singaporeans Thai

Terrace Welcome Mixer September 2006

Who is represented at UW? (snapshot) International Students

Chinese Taiwanese Japanese Korean Hong Kong Asian Indians Tibetans Nepalese Burmese Pakistani Indonesians Malaysians Singaporeans Thai

Domestic Students Chinese Taiwanese Japanese Korean Asian Indians Vietnamese Hmong Cambodian Laotian Filipinos Hawaiians

Dinner & Dialogue, March 2008

Targeted Populations Federal Definitions:

African Americans American Indians Latino/Hispanic

University of Wisconsin Definitions: African Americans American Indians Mexican Americans and Chicano/a Puerto Ricans (mainland and island) South East Asians

Vietnamese Hmong Cambodian Laotian

Leadership Mentor Potluck October 2007

Graduate Student Connections

Individual Department GSC—Graduate Student Collaborative

Predominantly Caucasian Students MGN—Multi-Graduate Network

UW Targeted Populations CGRS/GERS—Community of Graduate Research

Scholars/Graduate Engineering Research Scholars UW Targeted Populations

McNair Scholars Program (alumni) Low Income and First Generation College

Activism Panel, November 2007

TestimonialsThe following are general themes that emerged throughout the member,staff, faculty, and undergraduates’ testimonials about the impact which UWAAAGS has had.

AAAGS fills the need for social and intellectual (academic) support at UW Madison

The Organization’s reach extends beyond touching the lives of just the graduate students it serves – faculty, academic staff, undergraduates, and community members also benefit from the activities and events

Coalitions and collaborations across different student groups are formed through AAAGS events

Members emphasize meeting individuals during their graduate career through a network of peers whom they otherwise would not get the chance to interact with

Graduate Student TestimonialsBefore the existence of AAAGS, there was no umbrella organization that could connect AsianAmerican graduate students to one another and to resources and opportunities unique to us. We could turn to international student organizations, which are unable to attend to thechallenges of being members of ethnic minority groups residing in America. Or we could turnto undergraduate Asian American student organization, which are unable to address the uniqueneeds and challenges of graduate/profession school. The emergence of AAAGS provided asocial, academic, and personal link for me to others who shared the same challenges of being amember of an ethnic minority group on a predominantly white campus, who shared a similarcultural background with me, and who shared the stress and strains of life as a graduate student.I’ve had the opportunity to meet individuals I never would have encountered across campusand build a network of support that couldn’t have been provided by any other campus organization. AAAGS not only fills a niche for individuals, but within the broader campus. Ithas helped build bridges across students, departments, organizations, and even reached out tothe broader community. I’m so proud to have been a member of an organization that has soprofoundly impacted my own life, the lives of many other graduate students, and has thepotential for positive impact in the entire campus community.

Jackie Nguyen, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Educational Psychology

Graduate Student TestimonialsAAAGS has been my family and support over the years and have enriched my graduate careerboth in my personal life as well as in my intellectual growth. I have been very impressed at oursolidarity and swift mobilization in response to injustice or discrimination. AAAGS has beenmy support base to exchange knowledge, share fun experiences, and develop our careerstogether. Amy Chung, Doctoral Candidate, Pharmaceutical Sciences, National Science

Foundation Fellow 

AAAGS fosters a diverse community of Asian American scholars and provides a safe space fordiscussions about race and ethnicity. Its community wide activities, such as Asian AmericanVoices and the Lunar New Year Potluck, and its university wide activities, such as the Faculty andGraduate Student Dinner and Dialogue, reach out to other Asian American graduate students whowould have been isolated or confined to their respective departments. Without AAAGS, mytransition into graduate school would have been much more difficult because I would have lackedcommunity of diverse scholars with which I could identify. AAAGS has provided me perspectiveon being Asian American and a graduate student, and I have gained many professional connectionsand life-long friends.

Emily Yu, Doctoral Candidate, Department of English

Graduate Student Testimonials

AAAGS has been crucial to my success as a graduate student. Over the course of my doctoralstudies in English literary studies, it struck me that I needed a community of scholars beyondthose with whom I shared disciplinary training. AAAGS is one of the very few organizationsthat support my attempts to deepen the links between, for lack of better terms, intellectual andactivist work. AAAGS gave me the opportunity to present a workshop on Asian Americanactivism. I have maintained great relationships with junior and senior faculty members whohave been invested in AAAGS programming. AAAGS has also connected me to its network ofjournalists with whom I have interviewed for magazines. Finally, by providing not only forumsfor intellectual discussion but also links to funding networks, AAAGS has allowed my researchto extend beyond the university to such national conferences as the Association for AsianAmerican Studies. Without AAAGS, my development as a scholar at the University ofWisconsin-Madison would have been far less rich of an experience. 

Ray Hsu, Doctoral Candidate, English Literary Studies and Creative Writing, Future Postdoctoral Fellow in Creative Writing, University of British Columbia

Graduate Student Testimonials

It's been great to interact with other AAAGS members. As graduate students we all more orless have similar experiences in school even though our disciplines may be different. However,as Asian Americans we no longer relate only at the level of earning a graduate degree but alsoat the level of being Asian American and experiencing similar trials and tribulations in highereducation. AAAGS provides one outlet to exchange ideas and attempt to answer and/or solvebrewing questions or complications in our graduate educational experiences.

Kong Meng Xiong, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Biomolecular Chemistry in the Medical School

During my time as an undergrad, AAAGS has served as a voice and example of education and activism for Asian Americans on campus.  Through their events and workshops, I have becomemore aware of the importance of graduate education, activism, as well as networking.

Riamsalio Phetchareun, Masters Student, LaFollette School of Public Affairs

AAAGS Alumni Testimonials

I attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a Masters student in Southeast AsianStudies from Fall 2006 to Winter 2007. I was fortunate to have discovered the Association ofAsian American Graduate Students days into my first week as a graduate student. ThroughAAAGS, I have discovered a community of close friends, colleagues, and most importantly,study-buddies whom have carried me through the toughest times of my program. More thanthat, I was able to participate in organizing events and programs around issues that areimportant to me, such as working with the community as a scholar and being a mentor toundergraduates. Working with AAAGS has allowed me to better integrate myself with not onlywith the community on campus, but also in the wider Madison community. Without AAAGS,my experience at UW-Madison would undoubtedly have been a less rich, rewarding, andchallenging one.

Nancy Nguyen, MA Southeast Asian Studies, Doctoral Student Sociology Rutgers University  

AAAGS Alumni TestimonialsAAAGS really gave me an opportunity to feel a connection on a different level than I was usedto. In the 5 years I was at Madison before AAAGS began, I had tried to join several Asiangroups but always felt out of place. AAAGS has clearly helped many people find a comfortableenvironment, especially the newer people to the university. Overall, the group is one that caresdeeply about its members and does what it can to promote the awareness and self-awareness ofAsian American issues.

Larry Kwong, Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University, PhD Cancer Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

AAAGS has been a great group - not only does it connect Asians across campus but also servesas a great forum for different academic levels, professors, staff, and students, to discuss Asianissues and interact informally. AAAGS has greatly enriched my experience at UW and inMadison. Thanks go to you and all the AAAGS organizers for such a great organization.

Susan Lee, Post Doctoral Fellow/Research Associate, Department of Biomolecular Chemistry

Faculty TestimonialsSince coming on board as director of Asian American Studies on January 1, I have been very pleased to havethe opportunity to work closely with the Association of Asian American Graduate Students. Theyinitiated several community building and educational events, which they have shared with the AsianAmerican Studies program. As a result, I have interacted with them frequently in several meetings thissemester. I am impressed with their maturity And organizational abilities, as well as their openness tosuggestions. Using a teamwork approach, they work efficiently and respectfully with one another. Our

sharedprogramming was carried out without a single glitch.  

They have also been very supportive of the Asian American Studies Program. This year, the studentsparticipated in the screening of films for the Asian American Film Festival. By the way, one of thefilms, NEW YEAR BABY was chosen by the audience as their favorite documentary film of the festival.  

Something I have noticed at the different events is the wide variety of representation from differentdisciplines and programs across campus: Law school, Human Development & Family Studies, Sociology,Physics, Biochemistry, English, Nursing, etc., including faculty, academic staff and students. This is animpressive range for a student group to manage to rally and get out!  

Lynet Uttal, Director Asian American Studies, Associate Professor, Human Development & Family Studies, Affiliate with Chican@ Studies and Women’s Studies

Undergraduate TestimonialsHaving been a prior Asian Pacific American Council Vice-Chair, I have had the opportunity towork very closely with AAAGS. I have seen AAAGS grow and expand far beyond the collegecampus touching many Madison community peoples. Their participation and volunteering in the localcommunity has very much contributed to this. Personally, their programs, events, and otherassociations, particularly their mentorship program, have opened my mind towards the continuation ofhigher education, and have boosted my aspiration towards graduate school. Having worked hand inhand with this organization for change through this campus, I have learned so much from them. To me,AAAGS members are overall great students, great mentors, and best of all great friends.

Jerry Chang

The members of AAAGS have been more than gracious to provide their insight and services to theundergraduate community. Their connections to other institutions have helped students like me find aplace outside of UW-Madison to foster and pursue my collegiate career. With the help of some of theAAAGS students, I found a fellowship opportunity at UC-Berkeley so I may further my graduatecareer. Their social events also raise awareness of Asian American issues not only on campus, butparticularly in the professional setting.

Vorada Savengseuksa

Undergraduate Testimonials

AAAGS has played a critical role in furthering my development, voice, passion andknowledge for Asian American issues. I served as Vice Chair for 2 Asian Americanorganizations on campus and as a new student leader I faced a lot of decisions and differentobstacles along the way. One thing that really helped me get through was having a strongsupport network and be able to meet with the Chair and other members from AAAGS wheneverI had any questions or concerns. I also met one-on-one with core members in AAAGS and gotsome advice on what to do after my undergraduate career. Being a junior and having a lot ofconcerns and questions about my future, it has been extremely beneficial to have someone totalk to and help mentor me during this process. It was not until college that I was able to identifyas Asian American and AAAGS has been great for this process. It has been such a rewardingexperience learning more about my ethnicity an and AAAGS has helped me meet others thathave gone through similar yet different journeys. Through their leadership and mentoring, Ihave gained a lot of skills as a leader.

Mia St. Claire

Faculty TestimonialsAs the former director of the Asian American Studies Program, I have been astounded at howquickly that AAAGS  has come into prominence on campus. Its campus programming has beena boon to graduate and undergraduate students alike. Moreover, the organization has emergedas an incredible recruitment tool for potential graduate students across disciplines and fields. Ihope that the Graduate School can help publicize this significant community that has cometogether so significantly.

Leslie Bow, Associate Professor, Asian American Studies/English

The Association for Asian American Graduate Students is one of the most vital and activecampus groups at UW-Madison. They truly provide the much needed social and intellectualsupport for incoming and continuing Asian American graduate students across disciplines hereat Madison. As a faculty member, they have become an incredible resource that has made mytime at Madison so enjoyable. To be frank, they have helped mitigate the social isolation ofbeing a faculty of color. I have so much respect for this group of students, for their leadership,their warmth, and their collegiality. I feel so fortunate to be on a campus with such a committedand dedicated group of Asian American graduate students!!

Cindy I-Fen Cheng, Assistant Professor, Asian American Studies/History

University Academic Staff TestimonialsAs we map out our campus' diversity network of key committees, offices, student organizations,etc., the UW Association of Asian American Graduate Students (AAAGS) needs to be identifiedas one of our critical nodes. AAAGS is the only formal forum for Asian-American graduatestudents across campus to gather together socially, culturally and intellectually. In addition to thisunique community building role, AAAGS also serves other important and perhaps singularcampus functions: AAAGS has emerged for Asian-American students as a key initial contact/firstresponders when "sticky", social-justice related incidents occur on campus. As such it has becomethe present UW-Madison hub of and for Asian-American social activism; AAAGS is the onlyviable arena on campus in which dialogues on race from the perspective of Asian-American racialand ethnic identities are taking place. On the racial landscape of America where so much isframed strictly in  terms of Black vs. White, the educational work pushed by AAAGS cannot beundervalued; Finally,  the valuable role as Advisors and mentors the current AAAGS leadershipserve to the various Asian-American undergraduate organizations in these times of transition forthem need to be recognized.

Rodney Horikawa, Student Services Coordinator, University Health Services, Chair Plan 2008 Diversity Oversight Committee, Ex-Officio Member, Multicultural Student Center (MSC) Advisory Board

University Academic Staff TestimonialsAs an academic staff member at UW-Madison, AAAGS has played an important role inconnecting me with the UW-Madison campus community. Coming from California, where I hadan extensive Asian American social and professional network, UW Madison was a markedcontrast both in Asian American demographics and in campus needs.  

AAAGS was instrumental in providing a space for learning about and integrating with AsianAmericans at UW-Madison. For example, the 2007 Dinner and Dialogue introduced me todynamic faculty, staff, and graduate students who became valued colleagues and friends. Later,AAAGS gave me an opportunity to contribute to the campus climate through participation in acampus panel on activism and on the AA Voices planning committee, where I helped organizea groundbreaking conference on multiracial Asian Americans.

AAAGS has enriched my experiences here at UW-Madison and have made it possible to interactwith the campus in ways not always possible through my academic staff position. Theorganization is a model for the types of organizing and services that Asian Americans require oncampus, and I look forward to continued collaboration and community-building with itsmembers.

Anthony Yuen, Associate Student Services Coordinator (Study Abroad Advisor)

APALSA/SALSA TestimonialsAAAGS has been an invaluable component and partner in many events this year. They took the leadon many events aimed at providing students and faculty with enriching experiences, like ourActivism Workshop in the fall and the Asian American Voices forum on Multiracial Asian issuesthis spring. AAAGS is an extremely welcoming organization, and is always eager to collaboratewith other groups like APALSA/SALSA.

Elizabeth "Peach" Momoko Soltis, JD Candidate 2008, University of Wisconsin School of Law, Chair, APALSA/SALSA

AAAGS offers me comraderie on social and intellectual levels. They have enhanced my educationwhile at UW by providing me with unconditional support.  I often advise other law students that tosucceed in law school, they should join AAAGS.  AAAGS has made a huge difference in my lifethrough the programs they offer such as Dinner and Dialogue with faculty, their annual AsianAmerican Voices event where I get to meet community members, and their community eventswhere I enjoy opportunities to make lifelong friends. Programs like AAAGS help to retain studentssuch as myself.  UW has a strong interest to not only recruit a diverse student body but also aresponsibility to support groups like AAAGS that work tirelessly to retain us when we make it here.

Nancy Vue, J.D. Candidate 2008, University of Wisconsin School of Law

Madison Community Testimonials

As co chair of the Wisconsin Organization for Asian Americans and the Pacific AsianWomen's Alliance, I cannot express enough how proud, excited and impressed we are to haveco sponsored and participated in the great and relevant programming events promoted by UWMadison's AAAGS.  AAAGS networking and collaboration is vital in networking and mutuallysupporting and growing together, as an Asian American community as well as the broader,Madison/Dane County diverse community. AAAGS members are critical to the energy,creativity, hope, strength and unity of the Asian American community and they are our currentand future leadership.  

Sharyl Kato, Co-chair of the Wisconsin Organization for Asian Americans and the Pacific Asian Women's Alliance

Thank You

uw.aaags@gmail.com

www.aaags.blogspot.com

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