History

Asian Caucus officially came into fruition in 1989, when there was a resurgence of active Asian, Asian American, and international students who believed in the potential empowerment of having both culture specific clubs and an organization that continued to promote a collective Asian community. Before AC, there was ASIA, the Asian Students Intercultural Association, which was created prior to 1977. One of the four original external student groups funded by UGBC, its major event was the production of a large annual culture show. It became the Asian Student Club in 1981, and the next eight years saw a slow transition to the arrangement it is today.

Since our creation in 1989, Asian Caucus has gone through many structural and role changes, and does much more than hold culture shows.

Since 2004, Asian Caucus has undergone several structural changes in the interests of the Asian Pacific Islander/American community and that of the seven Asian culture clubs.

The 2004-2005 Asian Caucus leaders constituted an initiative that would enable Presidents of the seven Asian culture clubs to have a definitive role on the Asian Caucus Executive Board with voting power. Simultaneously, the number of Asian Caucus cabinet members reduced half in size to work more effectively.

The 2005-2006 Asian Caucus Executive Board voted on the implementation of two positions on the Asian Caucus Cabinet. The births of the Political and Educational Programming Department and the Community Relations Chair enabled the mission and goals of Asian Caucus to be refocused into two areas of programming. There was also the birth of Freshman Academy, which served as a purpose of uniting all the freshmen together under the same cause.

The 2006-2007 Asian Caucus Cabinet created Asian Caucus into a broader political entity that continues to support and maintain the relationships between the seven Asian culture clubs, while strengthening the Asian Pacific Islander/American community through relevant and effective programming aligned with our mission of educating and politicizing our community. By the end of the year, AC established the birth of the Service Immersion Chair in the hopes of creating service opportunity chances for the Asian Community.

The 2007-2008 Asian Caucus Executive Board created the new formation of Freshman Academy. Although Freshman Academy has started 3 years earlier, this was the first year FA was more concerned about educating freshmen so they can gain more knowledge about Asians in our society by divulging into topics such as Asian American History, Asians and their struggles in modern media, and Asians and their lives at Boston College. The most revolutionary event AC displayed that year was the first ever petition by all 7 AC clubs who rallied BC together during APAHM for the Asian American Advocacy Petition. Over 2,000 signatures were collected in one day thus showing the student body's demand for having more Asian American Classes on Campus. (Currently, BC offers only 2 Asian American classes in the Fall 2008 semester. There isn't an Asian Department and there's only an Asian Studies Minor--no Major. This rally was designed to try and gain awareness to that matter and help inform others of the need for more classes to teach our history.)

The 2008-2009 year is expected and will be a banner year for the Asian Caucus. This past year, the Asian Pacific Islander American community at Boston College has faced a wide degree of challenges. Despite comprising the largest percentage of AHANA students at Boston College, the Asian American and Asian Studies programs refuse to reflect this. Instead of growing in size, Asian Studies and Asian American focused classes instead have been reduced to only two offerings throughout the next year. Additionally, our Asian American scholarship is the only AHANA scholarship offered that goes unnamed. As the sole unified representative of all APIA students here at Boston College, we understand that we cannot let these roadblocks rob students of the opportunity to learn about the trying struggles that Asians have faced historically, and the contemporary issues that Asian Americans face currently. We feel that it is important for us to undertake this as our mission to educate and raise awareness as well as prompting passion and action as a result. If we cannot learn about our identity and culture through administrative means, we as Asian Caucus feel that we must provide this opportunity not just to educate, but to understand why this education is necessary as well. To accomplish this mission, we plan to operate under the theme of “Speak Out! Watch out! Act out!” implying that we will teach with our words, learn with our eyes, and act accordingly with our lives. We will encourage our membership to take what they see/hear and apply it. We will separate the academic year into three sections and our brand new events for the year will accompany a few of our annual events under this theme.

Through the changes that Asian Caucus has undergone in the past years, the commitment to the Asian Caucus community has always been endured.

last updated August 30, 2008