CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Members of the Students for Asian American Studies (SAAS) organization at UNC Chapel Hill have been continuing the push for an Asian American studies program on campus.
Freshman Christina Huang started the initiative in fall 2022, after she noticed a lack of Asian American resources upon coming to campus.
“Growing up in mostly predominantly white communities, I was here to explore what does it mean to be Asian American, learn about my history, and all that,” Huang said.
This inspired Huang to start Students for Asian American Studies, an organization dedicated to getting the program established at UNC.
Huang reached out to members of the Asian American Center executive board at UNC, and a handful of them expressed interest in joining the effort. Once they got started, they set about their first steps: drafting a letter to the chancellor and starting a petition.
The petition gathered more than 600 signatures from students, faculty members, and supporters from all over the country.
Despite this, the group knows that they’ve still got a long way to go.
“I don’t think it’ll be easy just because it is hard to establish change in an institution, especially one where there are a lot of unmet needs,” member of SAAS Joanna Yeh said.
The initiative is also still lacking manpower and dedicated time, for there are still many who are unaware of the issue and many of the members have other obligations that take away much of their times.
Despite the challenges, the members said they are dedicated to their mission and believe in the impact it will make on the campus.
As for its next step, the group plans on reaching out to student organizations and faculty members in an effort to get more people on board.