Asian Americans shift focus

The Asian Pacific Students Coalition said a plan for minority permanence ignores them. Now that the Asian American Studies program is up and running, the Asian Pacific Student Coalition is turning its attention to the University's minority presence programs. Last September, University President Judith Rodin announced financial initiatives aimed at increasing the number of minority faculty and students at the University and retaining them. Over the next five years, the University will make a special allocation of $5 million -- $1 million a year -- for the recruitment and retention of students and faculty from underrepresented minorities. The initiatives came in part as a response to 1994 interim recommendations for promoting minority permanence -- proposed by Vice Provost of University Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum and put together by faculty, staff and students. But while the interim recommendations addressed Asian-American issues, the new plan does not include Asian Americans as an underrepresented minority. Although Asian Americans make up 25 percent of the University, APSC President Eric Lee said their concerns are being overlooked. "It is our fear that Penn is redefining the term minority in the sense that they treat it as a quantitative issue," the Wharton senior said. "It's also important for the University to realize that Asians do suffer from many wrongs, not because there's a lot of us but because of our race. We want to emphasize the fact that minority issues are qualitative, not quantitative." The Coalition's goal this year is to represent the interests and concerns of the Asian-American Community to the administration as a cohesive unit concerning minority presence. APSC advocates an increase in the number of Asian-American faculty who can interact directly with undergraduate students. Most of the current Asian-American faculty works in the Hospital for the University of Pennsylvania and its research centers, according to APSC Vice Chairperson of Political Affairs Dan Lai. There are simply not enough professors and counselors to meet the needs of the 2,000-plus Asians on campus, Lai said. "Because we face different types of issues than most, we need people with shared experiences who can advice and guide us," the College senior added. According to the September 25 Standing Faculty Head Counts Report provided by the Department of Institutional Research, however, there are more Asian faculty members than African-American and Hispanic faculty members. Forty-three Asian-American, 21 African-American and 17 Latino faculty members are presently employed in the undergraduate schools. Overall, Asian-American faculty members add up to 116, African American, 59, and Latino, 35 throughout the University's 12 schools. Lai, however, is not convinced by the statistics. "There seems to be a grouping of Asian professors and Asian-American professors into one category. That might cause the numbers to appear bigger than they really are," he said, noting that professors who are of Asian decent are not necessarily Asian American. The APSC first formed in fall 1995 in hopes of uniting the pockets of Asian-American communities around the campus. Its formation was also a response to how Asian Americans are perceived in the University community and beyond, according to Lee. "Asians are not perceived as a heterogeneous group, comprised of Koreans, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, etc.," Lee said. "They see us as Asians so we respond as Asians." To emphasize Asian-American concerns on campus and increase visibility, the APSC is sponsoring the fifth annual Asian Pacific American Heritage week -- from October 27 to November 1. In the years past, Lee said the week has been a "self-affirming, community building week." But with this year's theme, "Kaleidoscope: Many Faces, One Dream," the APA Heritage coordinators are concentrating on outreach.