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Statement of Solidarity 

Thank you to everyone that attended our first online ASPIRE and Asian American Studies graduation celebration and congratulations to all the graduates!

Laureen Chew grew up the sheltered daughter of immigrant parents in San Francisco’s Chinatown. But when she enrolled at San Francisco State College in 1968, it was a stunning awakening. The campus was afire with new ideas and a growing movement for ethnic studies and educational equity.

DVAN@SFState opens this semester, as the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN) partners with Asian American Studies. To celebrate the establishment of the DVAN center at SF State, AAS co-hosted presentations by DVAN founders, Prof. Viet Nguyen and Prof. Isabelle Pelaud.  Thi Bui, Aimee Phan, Lan Duong, and Julie Thi Underhill also gave readings.

AAS faculty Prof. Russell Jeung and Prof. Valerie Soe were both profiled in news media this month. Prof. Jeung commented on the rise of racial profiling incidents surrounding the COVID-19 virus, while Prof. Soe opined on the significance of the Korean film, "Parasite," winning the Best Picture Academy award.

AAS screened the video documentary, Chinatown Rising, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the department's founding. Over 600 persons enjoyed the film by Harry and Joshua Chuck. A panel with former AAS chair George Woo and Intercollegiate Chinese for Social Action student strikers Irene Dea Collier, Laureen Chew, and Phil Chin regaled the audience of the stirring and revolutionary times of the BSU/Third World Liberation Front strike of 1968, and the struggle to establish Asian Americans on campus.

Students from AAS 213: Asian Americans and American Ideals and Institutions organized a Climate Justice Rally this fall semester to educate and empower fellow students about the impact of climate change on communities of color. Endorsing programs and student organizations included American Indian Studies, Latino/a Studies, Race and Resistance Studies, Critical Pacific Islands and Oceania Studies, Asian Student Union, League of Filipino Students, Pilipino American Collegiate Endeavor, and South Asians For Climate Justice.

OCA honors SF State Asian American Studies department for its fifty years of teaching, scholarship, and community activism. Pictured here are AAS student Angelica Guting, faculty member Anna Eng, dept. chair Russell Jeung, and OCA directors Dennis Yee and Lisa Vu.

Congratulations to the 29 AAS majors and 24 minors who made the Dean's List for Honors this past Spring 19 semester! Over 40% of our students obtained a 3.25 grade point average to earn this prestigious award. Pictured here are College of Ethnic Studies Dean Amy Sueyoshi and Lawrence Poon.

AAS alumnus Jan Bruan, along with Maria Baligod, return to SF State to recruit for the Bayanihan Equity Center this Fall 19. He and over two dozen alumni serve as career mentors to AAS majors. Contact rjeung@sfsu.edu if you'd like to be a role model for our students.