SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – Throughout the month of May, people in the United States recognize the contributions of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.
At Syracuse University, AAPI heritage month is celebrated in April, since most students go home for the summer in May. According to NBC News, the US saw an increase in Asian American hate crimes, which gave members of the AAPI community at SU the spotlight and attention of people across campus.
One crime that attracted widespread national attention was the Atlanta shooting that took place on March 16, which resulted in six Asian women being fatally shot. The associate director of multicultural affairs at SU, Huey Hsiao, said that discussing the events of the Atlanta shooting made this years AAPI month more significant.
“There definitely was an unfortunate nod to what happened in Atlanta, it was referenced,” Hsiao said. “I mean, it could have not been referenced. So locally here on campus it amplified it even more.”
Many local student groups and organizations not affiliated with the university held events condemning anti-Asian hate.
Hsiao said the rise in Asian American crimes leading into AAPI heritage month is what ultimately caused more awareness and participation from these student groups.
“I know other university offices, the honors programs, did something,” Hsiao said. “I think a student group did something … a couple student groups did some things.”
Outside of Syracuse University, members of the local community took it upon themselves to promote and organize events that celebrated Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage.
One example of this is Jason Ngo, who specializes in planning events in the Syracuse area. He said he organized the first ever AAPI festival in Syracuse city history, which took place on May 15. Ngo felt that he needed to help the Asian Community by spreading awareness in a festival like environment.
“With everything that’s been happening in the United States of America toward the Asian American community, we just wanted to show our community that we are aware of this and that we should not be afraid,” Ngo said. “There is a community of people in Syracuse that there is a genuine heart here that wants to stick up and fight for our Asian American community here at Syracuse.”
Even though the nationwide impact cannot be measured from these series of events, SU student and member of the AAPI community, Ben Lau, said that the university saw and began to understand the discrimination felt and experienced by different ethnic groups, via the Campus Climate Pulse Survey.
“The Campus Climate Pulse survey measures how each race feels discriminated against,” Lau said.
The Climate Pulse survey conducted by SU provides statistics to “felt discrimination.” According to the survey, Asian Americans make up about 20% of SU’s student population. Of that 20%, less than 50% felt satisfied with how they have been treated based off of race.
