Penn's Asian Pacific Student Coalition, which serves as an umbrella organization for 19 other Asian Pacific American associations on campus, elected its 2004 executive board on Wednesday night.
The new board, which does not include any returning members, will be headed by Chairman and College junior Brian Redondo.
Redondo has worked extensively with ECAASU -- Penn's bid team for the East Coast Asian American Student Union Conference 2005 -- and several other APA organizations on campus during his time at Penn.
"I only have one more year [at Penn] and I'd really like to make some sort of difference... really see the fruits of my effort," he said.
Redondo added that he intends to continue strengthening connections between the APSC, its constituents and other minority groups.
"I think that disagreements between the APSC and other minority groups would be less frequent through education," he said, adding that he will work to facilitate discussions to provide awareness between organizations.
"I'd really like to change the quality of life for students of color here," Redondo said.
When he takes over as chairman in January, Redondo will be expected to serve as spokesman for the APSC, with responsibilities including attending University Council meetings.
College junior Rohini Khanna, who will serve as the APSC's vice chairwoman, said that her goals are very similar to Redondo's since "Brian and I think on a very similar level."
"I would like to see a lot of interaction among coalitions," she said. "My biggest drive is education... making people aware of the fact that [certain minority issues] exist."
Khanna added that she also plans to help the APSC "make a face for itself," noting that the group's biggest problem right now is visibility on campus.
Though the remaining board positions were filled by underclassmen, College senior Julia Lee -- APSC's outgoing chairwoman -- said she is not worried about the youth of the new board.
"I'm actually really excited about the new board. I think that they have a real energy," she said. "Most of them are freshmen and sophomores, but I think they are very mature and very educated.... They will definitely make a huge impact on our community."
College sophomore Zeyen Wu was elected vice chairman of political affairs, while Wharton sophomore Jessica Park will serve as vice chairwoman of cultural programming for the upcoming year.
The position of vice chairman of University relations will be filled by Wharton sophomore Taimur Awan and College freshman Nina Wong will serve as the vice chairwoman of external relations.
Wharton sophomore Johnny Wang was named vice chairman of communications and College sophomore James Lin will serve as vice chairman of development beginning in January.
Lee said that she is especially pleased by the diversity present on this year's board, which contains two members of the South Asian community, Khanna and Awan.
"It's really inspiring to see [the South Asians] step up and really want to take an active role," she said.
Lee added that "a lot of the people on the current board are from different facets of University life, and I think that will make a huge impact on things they can accomplish."
