OSU Alumni Association, cultural center team up to connect Asian and Pacific Islander community

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Asian & Pacific Cultural Center

Asian and Pacific Islander students are a diverse and unique group. From a statistical standpoint, they represent both the highest and lowest ends of educational attainment, according to Reagan Le, assistant director for the Asian & Pacific Cultural Center and director of Diversity & Cultural Engagement at Oregon State.

That’s despite the stereotype that Asian and Pacific Islander students are expected to do well academically. Le believes that myth can cause students to struggle because they don’t receive the resources they need.

“Stereotypes hurt,” he says.

The diversity of Asian and Pacific Islander students makes it hard to represent them in a single space. The Asian & Pacific Cultural Center serves as a resource for students, staff and the community to engage on campus and online. Now, a new alumni group is forming to build on these experiences and foster a greater sense of belonging.

The Oregon State Alumni Association and the Asian & Pacific Cultural Center are building the foundation for this new group, yet to be named, that will launch later this summer and begin offering opportunities to connect starting in fall 2019.

Le says Oregon’s Asian and Pacific Islander community is relatively small. So Oregon State and the University of Oregon formed a combined alumni group to socialize. That group intends to keep meeting.

The new Oregon State alumni group will focus on mentoring, professional development and social activities, building on the resources already available through the cultural center’s 17 different groups, according to Le.

Those include a podcast, Making Waves, a storytelling anthology and social media groups.

“We want to create a sense of community for those who belong or identify as Asian and Pacific Islander,” Le says.

Suzanne Flores Phillips, director of alumni diversity and affinity groups for the OSU Alumni Association, says the new group started by talking to more than 30 alumni about their hopes and dreams. A smaller group is working on final details.

“This alumni community is just beginning to form,” Flores Phillips says. “They are going to reach out to all Asian and Pacific Islander alumni to join and promote it.”

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