Writer, speaker and playwright Wajahat Ali will lecture on “A Caravan of Unity in the Age of Hate: Building a Multicultural Coalition of the Willing” on April 15.
Celebrated nationally in May, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month honors and celebrates Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have enriched America’s history and are instrumental in its future success. Syracuse University honors the month in April while the campus community is still together.
“Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage month is especially significant this year with the rise in Anti-Asian sentiment throughout the country,” says Huey Hsiao, associate director of multicultural affairs and the Kessler Scholars Program and AAPI Heritage Month Planning Committee co-chair. “Bringing these events to the campus community, I believe, is going to create an important wave of awareness and a desire to educate oneself more about the AAPI community.”
Events celebrate and offer educational opportunities surrounding AAPI culture, heritage, histories, cultural diversity, contribution and often underreported challenges of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
“We wanted to be very intentional in our discussions around intersecting AAPI identities,” says Nicholas Lee G’21, AAPI Heritage Month Planning Committee co-chair. “Our overall goal for this month is not only encouraging students to examine and make sense of their identities but also to figure out ‘Now that I’ve made sense of my identity, where do I go from here? How can I be a better advocate for my community?’ This is what we hope students will be able to take away from this month.”
The AAPI Heritage Month Planning Committee, the Office of Multicultural Affairs and cross-campus partners have combined their efforts to develop thought-provoking and relevant events for the campus community. Explore the complete list of events, learn more and register on the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month webpage.
“The inclusivity and AAPI voices amplified during the month is truly empowering,” says Kimberly Ng ’21, president of Asian Students in America (ASIA) and AAPI Heritage Month Planning Committee member. “It is a space that allows for our shared AAPI experiences as a community while dissecting into our own individual connections to our cultural heritage.”
For more information or to request accommodations, please contact Huey Hsiao, by calling 315.443.9676 or emailing huhsiao@syr.edu.
Story by Division of Enrollment and the Student Experience graduate assistant Alana Boyd G’21, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.
