COLUMN: A minority in the majority

From Andrea Ahles's, "Hawaiian Style," Fall '97 From Andrea Ahles's, "Hawaiian Style," Fall '97Incoming Asian-American students at Penn don't have to worry that they might be alone.From Andrea Ahles's, "Hawaiian Style," Fall '97Incoming Asian-American students at Penn don't have to worry that they might be alone.With the Asian Student Union, Chinese Student Association, the Nippon Society and many other cultural clubs, there is a strong and vibrant Asian-American contingent on campus. And a student should have no trouble finding a group that represents his or her ethnic background. These fears are unfounded. Comprising 25 percent of Penn's population, Asian Americans make up a large enough group to make their presence felt and heard. And they have. The original minority permanence plan announced by University President Judith Rodin did not include Asian Americans. But as a result of concerns raised by various students groups, administrators made recommendations to include Asian American issues. And the head of the Asian Pacific Student Coalition recently said the group plans to continue lobby administrators to include Asian Americans in these plans. But Asian-American concerns should not significantly affect the plan because it was developed to deal with underrepresented minorities. Asian Americans are simply not underrepresented on campus like the black and Latino communities. The funds that are set aside in the minority permanence plan are key to increasing minority faculty at Penn. While 116 Asian Americans isn't the large portion of faculty members, the presence of only 35 Latino professors is atrocious. Although some Asian-American leaders don't like the fact that the minority group is excluded because of statistics, they must accept that it boils down to a numbers game, especially when it comes down to dollars and cents. Rodin's minority permanence plan earmarked $5 million for recruitment and looked to raise $20 million for a special endowment that would fund diversity programs. This is a move in the right direction. But more action on the plan needs to be seen. And Asian Americans shouldn't be pushing for more funds to be earmarked for them. Administrators accepted a $2.5 million donation to promote Korean Studies at Penn last spring. In actuality, this contribution amounts to $5 million, since the College of Arts and Sciences pledged to match the donation through fundraising efforts. Already, that's a considerable amount of funds that the African-American and Latino communities don't currently have. And it's the responsibility of the minority groups like the Black Student League and the United Minorities Council to keep the pressure on administrators to follow through with the permanence plan. It is not absurd that administrators did not include Asian Americans in the original plan. According to statistics representing minority presence at Ivy League institutions, the percentage of minorities is lower than their representation in the nation's population with the exception of Asian students. Administrators recognized these statistics and accurately focused the minority permanence plan on the African American and Latino communities. The Asian American Studies program is also up and running. English Professor Mark Chiang and Sociology Professor Grace Kao were both tapped for the ASAM program and are teaching courses for the program this fall. Yes, there are not enough professors to meet the needs of the 2,000-plus Asians on campus but the same could be said about the entire student body. Those needs also vary from student to student. Just because a student is Asian American doesn't necessarily mean that student needs a minority advisor. Instead, the student might benefit more from someone who works in his or her field of study. Regardless, Asian-American professors span numerous disciplines from political science to engineering to sociology. It is not difficult to find an Asian-American professor within a discipline who would be able to offer advice. The simple fact is this: Asian Americans are well-represented at Penn. And to argue otherwise is ridiculous. While University administrators shouldn't ignore concerns expressed by the Asian-American community, they shouldn't focus on those issues at the expense of the underrepresented minorities on campus.