Monthly Archives: December 2014

Community Diversity Learning Day March 18, 2015

Posted on by

More info to come soon… (This event has been added to our calendar)

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,

Earlier this fall, President Cassidy wrote the community about her desire to set aside a day in the spring semester so the entire campus could come together for a time of learning and discussion of how race shapes our lives and community, as well as to help us build our skills for living in an intentionally diverse community.

We have identified Wednesday, March 18, 2015 as the date for this gathering.  More information will be shared next semester, but everyone should set aside this date on their calendar when classes will be cancelled and most offices will be closed to allow for the greatest participation.

Thank you,
Emily Espenshade

Emily C. Espenshade
Chief of Staff
Office of the President
Bryn Mawr College
101 N. Merion Ave.
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010-2899
eespenshad@brynmawr.edu
(610) 526-5155

Institutional Memory Restoration Project

Posted on by

There seems to be a reoccurring theme… Haverford ASA had the same problem too (HASA was recently revived this year). (Swarthmore SAO is probably the most consistent in institutional memory among the Tri-Co ASA groups.)

Cycles of motivated college students who eventually end up graduating take with them their progress and memories.

It doesn’t help that technology keeps on changing as well.

That is why the 2014-2015 Board declares this year to be a change! We are in the process of revamping this website and preserving the history of A/ASA (previously ASA). There appears to be a break in activity from the end of 2010 to 2012. Because of our constantly updated Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, and at one point, Tumblr, the 2013-2014 Board felt it unnecessary to update this website. Gee were we wrong.

Recent incidents of racism on campus and other significant events that should not be forgotten as students pass through Bryn Mawr and move on with life sparked our renewed interest in keeping the institutional memory alive. The student body has been pressuring the Bryn Mawr administration to implement mandatory diversity training for faculty, staff, and students since forever, and nothing has happened so far. Asian Americans have a stereotyped reputation of being complacent and quiet. How can we counteract this if we are not properly informed? That is why it is up to us, the current students, to reflect on these non-isolated events, and confront and document them now so future students do not repeat the same mistakes.

At the beginning of Fall 2014, I finally went to the Help Desk in Canaday to get access to this blog. I have not had a chance to update it until now. I had just returned to school after my internship with Asian Cinevision’s AAIFF and had recently joined the Re:Humanities Working Group (organizing the Tri-Co Digital Humanities Symposium). Over the summer I upgraded and sharpened my social media skills and returned to school ready to use them for something bigger than myself. Re:Humanities taught me the importance of digital archiving in institutional memory (how fitting that the #ReHum15 theme is “Save, Share, Self-Destruct”), which only fueled my hunger to update this blog even more.

The process started with changing the theme of the blog from Twenty Eleven to Oxygen. I’m no expert at WordPress or html, but thanks to the internet I’ve been able to make do with this outdated system of WordPress (2010) the school provides to clubs. I then installed the slideshow features and menus and tabs and social media feeds. My main resources for filling in these holes of what I knew of ASA come from the former ASA Facebook Group (active before ASA switched over to a Facebook page), the Board Google Drive, and a handful of articles on previous culture shows written in the BiCo News. I have been able to access the Facebook Group’s past events to copy and paste into this website and documents dating from 2009 in the Google Drive. I have also been googling the term “Bryn Mawr Asian Students Association” to see if I could fill in more holes in the timeline. Other than one guest visitor who presented to ASA in 2000, I am having trouble finding information prior to 2007. When was ASA officially started? How were race relations when the first Asians attended Bryn Mawr? Are there any prominent Bryn Mawr alums of Asian descent?

While the Facebook Group is currently inactive, many Bryn Mawr College ASA graduates as still part of it. My hopes are that the 2014-2015 Board can contact those in the group and establish an Asian/Asian American Alumnae/i Group. We know this has been a dream of many past ASA Boards and we feel like this is the year! If you have any information about ASA’s history, please feel free to contact us at brynmawr.asa@gmail.com!

-Miranda

Photo creds to The Getty Iris

All Black Lives Matter: Die-In, March, & Vigil on the Mainline

Posted on by

There will be a three-part demonstration starting at Pembroke Arch to protest recent jury decisions in Ferguson and New York City. We encourage everyone, whether people of color or allies to people of color, to support the cause in whatever way they see fit.

Race is and has always been a complicated issue for Asians and Asian Americans. (This article highlights many prevailing concerns specific to Asian Americans.) We will continue this conversation at Monday night’s meeting by discussing how Asians and Asian Americans fit in to the complex system of racism in this country, specifically in light of recent events.

Below is a message from Haverford ASA about sign-making, which will take place at Dalton’s study tables at 4:20pm.

“Dear HASA, Hyphen, SAO, and fellow Asians and Asian Americans,

Tomorrow (Monday 12/8) afternoon, Tri-Co students are holding a die-in, march, and vigil to call for the importance of All Black Lives in our communities.

HASA invites all Asian and Asian American students to join us for sign-making beginning at 4:20 in Bryn Mawr Dalton Hall’s lower level study tables (directions below). We will walk to Pem Arch at 4:45, in time to depart with the group at 5pm. Haverford students can take the 4:10 bus.

Even if you cannot come to the sign-making, you can show your support by wearing all black. Finally, please remember that we are expressing solidarity — we are allies entering a space that seeks to highlight Black voices. “Speak Up, Not Over” when expressing Asian American support for the Black community.”

Updates can be found on the HASA and Hyphen Facebook pages.

Meet the 2014-2015 Board!

Posted on by

Co-Presidents: Miranda Canilang (’17) & Amy Xu (’17)

Treasurer: Joy Chan (’17)

Publicity: Connie Lam (’18)

Secretary: Ann Tran (’18)

________________________________________________

Miranda Canilang is excited to be back on board again after serving as Publicity Chair for the past year (and even more excited to lead A/ASA with her best friend Amy!). As a 3rd generation Chinese-Filipina American from New Jersey, she did not become active in the Asian American community until she came to Bryn Mawr. Since then, she’s interned for Asian Cinevision’s AAIFF and currently blogs for ECAASU. When she’s not with A/ASA, BMCS Concert Series, Re:Humanities, Bi-Co orchestra rehearsal, or Choom Boom, you can find her lurking the world wide internet.

Amy Xu is even more excited than Miranda to lead the A/ASA board with her best friend. She deeply believes in both the multiplicity of APA experiences and the powerful solidarity that results from APA unity. Even though she loves greasy Chinese takeout, Amy saw chop suey for the first time in her life at Erdman Dining Hall.

Joy Chan loves A/ASA as it is like her extended family on campus and always finds a way to find where the food is first during meetings. She is from Singapore and loves trying all types of food, dancing, singing, hugging trees + people, and surprising people with phrases such as “I’m an Asian Mormon”. In terms of money, she was treasurer for her HS dance club which had 200 girls to account for and believes that she has what it takes to handle the budget this year.

This is Connie Lam’s first year at Bryn Mawr College and so currently, she doesn’t quite know what she wants to major in yet. She is from Massachusetts and would proudly give anybody who stops by Boston her personalized tour of Boston. Her hobbies include reading, going on Facebook to procrastinate, and singing loudly (and off-key) in the shower. Don’t hesitate to say hi to her if you see her!

Ann Tran, Class of 2018, is Secretary. Her job includes but is not limited to taking notes during A/ASA’s awesome meetings, planning events and event locations, and more. She is a Green Ambassador for Rockefeller dorm, Class of 2018 Co-President, and volunteer for Adelante, a STEM and College Access program for middle school students in Norristown, PA. For fun, she likes to imagine herself at the gym and reward herself with twice as much cake. Her intended major is Chemistry, but this is subject to change. Ann is from Boston, MA.