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History
AAA Constitution >>>
Rejection gave birth to the Asian American Association. During first-year orientation week in 1976, two Asian American women decided to attend a Minority Freshman Banquet sponsored by the university, but were barred from entering and were turned away.
Harvard did not recognize Asian Americans as a minority, despite the legacy of legal discrimination and social prejudice they share with other minority groups. Asian Americans were acknowledged as minorities by the federal government and by Harvard in enrollment reports it filed in order to receive federal affirmative-action funding. But the administration embraced the racist notion of Asian Americans as an assimilated, financially secure “model minority” and therefore not a true “minority.”
Furious, Asian Americans and other minority students pointed out the inconsistency in Harvard’s policy and demanded recognition of Asian Americans as minorities. Twelve different student groups submitted a letter to Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III later that month. In response to a petition filed by 27 students in October 1976, Epps decided to include Asian Americans in minority programs but rejected the claim that Asians are “oppressed.”
According to a November 1976 article in The Harvard Crimson, Epps’s reaction had “several ramifications. Many Asian-American students now find themselves in limbo, unable to identify with the white majority, but separated by definition from the minorities on campus,” The Crimson reported.
This feeling of isolation culminated in the establishment of the Asian American Association, which Fred Ho ’79, a sociology concentrator, and other students helped found and spearhead. AAA launched an extensive campaign against the administration in seeking minority status for Asian American students.
The organization grew out of the Coalition of Asian American Students, an early activist group formed during the Vietnam War to oppose the U.S. war effort. The coalition dissolved after the war ended, but served as a precedent for the founding of AAA in 1976.
The orientation-week incident was the catalyst for the new group. Through protests and discussions, Asian Americans gained increases in admissions and recruitment trips to the West Coast and publication of an Asian American recruitment pamphlet. Still, Harvard denied recognition of Asian Americans as minorities.
The Coalition of Asian American Students joined with the Black Students Association, La Organizacion, and other minority groups, and circulated a platform flier declaring that “Asian American minority recognition is an essential fight to expand the gains won by minority students and the democratic rights to self determination in their affairs.”
After extensive confrontations and information campaigns and a sit-in in University Hall in which students vowed not to leave Epps’ office until acceptance was accorded, the administration formally acknowledged Asian Americans as minorities at the end of 1976.
The goals of AAA were defined early on, though Ho stated that debate and differences raged about the direction of the new organization.
Some students supported AAA as an apolitical social group while others, Ho included, wanted the organization to take on an activist role with educational goals as well.
“The activist legacy of AAA is critically important; it has to get things done,” Ho said, adding that the cultural and social aspects of Asian American life could not be considered without taking into account the political struggles of Asian Americans.
Assuming a heavily political stance, the early core members sponsored events such as Asian American parties and cultural programs in addition to fighting for recruitment and greater admission of Asian Americans, supporting divestment from South Africa and forming a community-service program in Boston’s Chinatown.
“AAA really expanded after I left, due to the involvement of activist Asian women,” Ho said, citing as a main concern the organization’s disproportionate male-female ratio. Symptomatic of many oppressed groups, Ho said, Asian American women often had to deal with men’s insecurities, even in a university environment.
In 1979, AAA president Steve Pon wrote “An Asian American Perspective,” a radical essay outlining past discrimination against Asian Americans. “Who hasn’t been asked if your father works in a restaurant or laundry, or how long have you been in this country, or even, ‘You speakee English?’ Who hasn’t been called a ‘Chink’ or a ‘Jap,’ or sneaky or inscrutable? Who hasn’t been asked to say something in Chinese, and when you explain you’re Japanese, they reply, ‘Well, it’s all the same, isn’t it?’ Or perhaps strangers come up to you and ask if you’re Chinese or Japanese and when you tell them, they are proud that they could tell the difference, or they tell you they had Chinese food last night.”
Pon viewed AAA as an educational organization dedicated to mutual support among members and to informing others about Asian American issues. “The reasons for having an AAA are as many and diverse as the people in it. … It is ours to mold, build and use as we wish. Come, help shape it with your own hands,” Pon wrote.
Involved in AAA from 1976 to 1980, Renee E. Tajima ’80 was a core member of AAA and helped lobby for minority recognition for Asian Americans at Harvard.
“I remember sitting in Epps’s office demanding an admissions and recruitment program for Asians,” she said. Tajima went on to become the founder and first staff member for the Asian American admissions and recruitment program, taking trips around the country to encourage Asian Americans from low-income families to apply.
The political activities of AAA pivoted on involvement with two movements. The first, the East Coast Asian Student Union (ECASU), which Tajima helped found, served as an intercollegiate support network and pushed for affirmative action, an issue which the historic Bakke case in the Supreme Court brought to the nation’s attention. Through participation in marches in Washington, D.C. and campus education, AAA members sought support.
In 1977, AAA was a key part of an anti-apartheid coalition of more than 1,000 students who took over Holyoke Center. “We closed it down,” Tajima said. “We took over the offices and educated people about apartheid.”
The apparent rift between the “political” core members and those who sought a more social role for the organization persisted, according to Tajima. “The challenge was to find common ground,” she said.
At that time, Radcliffe women put together a slide show on the Asian American experience of women, a production which was a very emotional project for all involved because it helped unify students both within and outside of AAA. The slide show opened the eyes of the less political members and heightened the importance of teamwork and compromise for the core members, Tajima said.
Tajima, now an independent documentary filmmaker based in California, said AAA and other campus organizations helped prepare Asian Americans for leadership positions. “[AAA] really changed leadership of Asian Americans. If you look at the people running for elected office or who are involved in Asian American legal aid, a lot of them started on a campus organization,” she said. “Even those who were not political people have become politicized in the process and are still involved which would not have happened without AAA.”
Peter N. Kiang ’80, a AAA member from its founding and now a professor of Asian American studies at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, drew up a proposal for a Third World Center which was to become a base of resources controlled by minority student groups. Instead, Harvard responded by creating the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations, whose primary goal was to promote interracial relations.
Student groups felt that they were already adequately promoting interccultural relations, and really needed a source of funds, Kiang said. Harvard retained its “power of the purse” through the Foundation instead of giving it to the groups directly, he said. “It created a relationship of dependency because of the grants program.” The student organizations’ independence in funding and autonomy was infringed upon because the Foundation made them apply for funding, according to Kiang.
All the student organizations boycotted the Harvard Foundation in 1980 to 1981, he said, but eventually had to give in due to lack of money and resources. “It’s a sad commentary on students of color because they are seen as ambassadors of their culture.”
However, AAA leaders emphasize that the Foundation is today a vital source of support and funding as well as an important liaison between student groups and the administration. In particular, today’s student leaders praise Foundation Director Dr. S. Allen Counter for his efforts in strengthening and aiding their groups in inviting speakers and organizing other events.
During the early 1980s, AAA established several sub-committees. The admissions and recruitment committee was dedicated to increasing applications, acceptances and matriculation of Asian American students, especially those from urban and working-class backgrounds. But while AAA’s constitution states that its purpose is to meet the “political, cultural, educational, and social needs of Asian-American students,” even in the nascent phases of its existence, AAA recognized and struggled with the difficulties of representing and providing resources for an extremely diverse and rapidly expanding community.
Individual ethnic-specific groups were formed, notably the Chinese Students Association, Koreans of Harvard-Radcliffe (now the Korean Students Association), and the Japanese Cultural Society. In addition, a group for Asian American women was established. AAA maintained its commitment to supporting these groups as they formed.
The fight against stereotypes on campus continued in the 1980s. In the spring of 1980, the Hasty Pudding Theatricals show, “A Little Knife Music,” employed a character named “Edgar Foo Yung,” depicted as a stereotypical Asian American who is poisoned at the close of the play because of his romantic interest in a white female protagonist.
The racist and insensitive depiction of Asian Americans enraged student groups. In a February 1980 letter to the editor in The Crimson, Elizabeth T. Partridge ’80 wrote that the character was a racist caricature “complete with the requisite trailing pigtail, pidgin English, and tiny stature. He bows and clasps his hands together, preeminently laughable in all his jerky, awkward mannerisms.”
AAA consequently met with the Hasty Pudding to discuss the portrayal and demanded the removal of the character from the play. Though the Hasty Pudding conceded that students could potentially misconstrue what it said was all in good humor, it refused to change the play.
Led by Florence Houn ’80, an early AAA leader who is now a doctor, AAA started a massive poster campaign, protesting in front of the Pudding Club during performances of the play. “A mere recognition of the problem without subsequent termination of the practice is a sterile intellectual exercise; it does not repair the inherent social damages of the play,” AAA wrote in a letter to The Crimson in March 1980. Backed by the BSA, La Organizacion and La RAZA, AAA successfully persuaded the Pudding to include a letter of protest from AAA in the play program.
In the 1980s, the AAA struggle moved to Byerly Hall. A controversy over admissions erupted in the Ivy League, where it was suggested that Asian Americans should no longer be recruited because there were too many proportionate to their numbers in the population. Rumors of a quota ceiling for Asian Americans circulated, leading to confrontations between AAA and the administration.
Margaret Chin, co-president of AAA from 1983 to 1984, worked in the admissions office under the minority recruitment program. “For the first time people looked at SAT scores and found that while Asians had the highest SAT scores, the admit rates were the lowest,” Chin said.
In a statistical report by the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid on minorities, the percentage of Asian American admits was consistently lower than that of other minorities. From 1980 to 1986, the percentage of Asian Americans accepted lingered around 15 percent, compared with 27.2 percent for blacks and 24.8 percent for Hispanics. AAA and other students attended meetings with then admissions officers L. Fred Jewett and William R. Fitzsimmons, asking for an explanation for the discrepancies.
The admissions office replied by stating that its objective was to look for “well-rounded” applicants. Chin said that only after much negotiation and disputes did AAA and the admissions office settle by shifting the focus of recruiting to low-income and underrepresented minority students.
Our Board
Co-Presidents
Rachael Foo
Hi! I’m currently a sophomore in Eliot concentrating in Government with a secondary field in Computer Science. I was born and raised in the glorious city of Hong Kong, where I still live today. Besides AAA, I’m also involved in the rugby team at Harvard, and am currently working on a start-up called myRoadways with my blockmates (whom I met in AAA!). I got hooked into being a part of this organization first by its wonderful board members, who are some of my closest friends here at Harvard, but also by its important mission and fascinating history. I’m honored to have the chance to serve the Asian American community here, and to make a lasting impact on the student body.
Pamela Yau
Hello there! I’m Pamela, and I’m a sophomore in Eliot House studying Psychology. I’m committed to making AAA an open organization for students at Harvard to not only voice their opinions about Asian American issues but also to meet amazing friends throughout the process. I’m from Cincinnati, Ohio
Vice President
Andy Nguyen
I’m a Junior East Asian Studies concentrator pursuing a secondary in Government. I was born and raised in Ahwatukee, Arizona and on my free time enjoy riding my bike or taking jogs through the desert. I’ve been in a multi-ethnic boyband (L.E.D ~ Live! Everlasting Dream) since freshman year of college, and I’ve played tennis since I was 5 years old. I’m on the varsity tennis team at Harvard and also a member of the Asian American Dance Troupe. I enjoy hiking, running through mountains, fishing, swimming, and basking in the great outdoors. On my free time I enjoy making bacon based meals with friends and reading books by the fireside. On a typical day you’d find me jogging with my puppy or doing laps in the community pool.
Secretary
Norah Liang
Hey guys! I’m a sophomore in Adams House concentrating in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biologywith a secondary in Chemistry, and I hail from Long Island, NY, (despite the fact that everyone I meet thinks I’m from Southern California). Outside of AAA, you’ll see me on the football field/basketball court cheering on the Harvard Crimsons as a proud Harvard cheerleader or playing in Sanders Theater with the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra. I am also the Events Director of PBHA’s HARMONY program and an active member of Harvard Model UN. My hobbies include traveling, updating my blog, and being a French macaron connoiseur.
Co-treasurers
Michelle Geng
Lalalala hello there! I’m Michelle and I’m the Co-Treasurer with Steverbeaver. I’m a freshman hailing from the great misnomer town of Pearland, Texas (where surprisingly, there aren’t a lot of pear trees :[ ). I live in the best dorm ever, Weld, and am planning on concentrating in Applied Mathematics. In my spare time when I’m not trying to acquire massive amounts of moolah for AAA, you can find me online shopping, playing with make-up, eating sour gummy candy, or hunting for the latest Hello Kitty items to buy. I’m not sure yet what I wanna do with my life, but it’s probably going to be something business-related; my ultimate goal is to earn so much money that I will no longer have to worry about my retirement savings and can become a professional make-up artist for celebrities. I absolutely love my fAAAmily and look forward to helping plan and fund events this upcoming year! Woot woot!
Steven Wang
Hi I am Steven Wang. I am 19 years old. My favorite color is blue like bruises(but not too dark). My favorite food is pizza. I am fat, weighing in at 170lbs and 6 feet. But I would like to be even fatter at 200 lbs and 6’ 2. My family is from Canada (God Save the Queen!) I am a freshman in Mower (Al-Gore’s room woot woot!). I might concentrate in Economics or Psychology with a secondary in French (la deuxieme langue officielle du Canada).
Social Co-Chairs
Helen Zhao
Hi everyone! I’m Helen and I’m a freshman living in Canaday G! Although born and raised a Boston girl, I now technically reign from Niskayuna NY. I would like to pursue a career in either education or journalism, and am considering a concentration in Psychology or Sociology with a secondary in East Asian Studies. When I am not throwing awesome social events for AAA, you can find me doing push-ups at football games as a Harvard cheerleader or dancing with the Harvard Ballet Company and the Asian American Dance Troupe. After a long week of classes, I find joy and relaxation tutoring little second graders in Chinatown Afterschool. I’m excited to work with this year’s very passionate board to bring AAA to new heights!
Bryan Li
Hey everyone, I’m Bryan Li, and I’m from Woodbridge, New Jersey. There isn’t much to do in Jersey, so a lot of people need to find creative outlets to sate their boredom; therefore, given my expertise in this matter, as Co-Social Chair for AAA we will be making Harvard students everywhere happily engaged in party-like activities. I live in Apley Court 42, once home to the great T.S. Eliot, and I’m a potential Ec concentrator with a Psych secondary. I’m really excited to be a part of AAA, especially with the amazing board we have this year. Aside from AAA, I’m a Hahvahd Tour Guide (great job) and VP of TCS. I also play Club Volleyball and occasionally Club Soccer. My hobbies include getting swoll and having swag, but also sports, chilling with friends, and having meaningful conversations. My favorite food is buffalo chicken pizza. Maybe one day Nochs can satisfy that need for me.
Outreach Co-Chairs
Kara Lee
Hey Guys! I’m a freshman living in Canaday, looking into a music concentration. I am from Long Island, New York. I joined AAA in hopes of becoming part of a close organization who brings awareness and voice for all Asians on campus. Aside from AAA, I am on the varsity fencing team here at Harvard and also a cellist in the Pops Orchestra! I love Broadway, and music composition is my passion. I love all sports and just having a good time!
Stephen Kim
Ed/Pol Co-Chairs
Diana Nguyen
I live in the west building of Holworthy, on the third floor, and when you walk up, my room is on the left hand side. I am from the city of Lawndale. It is 10 minutes from the LAX airport and is within the boundaries of Los Angeles County. I am concentrating in Government with a secondary field in Computer Science. I am the proud education and political co-chair and this year I hope to bring forth interesting discussions that spark debate, friendships, and awareness.
Katrina Wong
Oh haay, my name is Katrina and I’m currently a sophomore studying History and Literature living in Leverett House. I was born in the Philippines, but spent my formative years in San Diego, CA so you already know I’m not made for this New England weather. Outside of AAA, I’m currently involved in volunteer programming with the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Cultural Center, Harvard Philippine Forum’s Dance Troupe (we work dem poles, yo.), The South East Asian Coalition, and I’m a barrista at Café Gato Rojo (stop by! I make a damn good honey soy chai latte 
). I am extremely excited to be working with this amaaazing board this year, and to bring new fire to AAA’s rich, political history. I love to dance, sing, sass, have long, meaningful conversations and this is now sounding a lot like an online dating post so I’ll just stop right there.
Ed/Pol Committee
Shannen Kim
Jessica Yap
Public Relations Co-Chairs
Kelly Ren
Hi! I’m Kelly, and I’m a freshman in Weld. I’m currently considering a concentration in economics and a secondary in computer science (I’m kind of a closet computer geek). Apart from serving as one of AAA’s public relations co-chairs, I split my time between Women in Business, the Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations, Delta Gamma, baking, running, and avoiding the cold.
Christian Carvajal
Historian
C.C. Gong
My name is C.C. Gong (The two C’s don’t stand for anything) I’m a freshman in Canaday F, currently considering a concentration in psychology, but this changes every week. I can see the Disneyland fireworks from my home in Anaheim, CA. I enjoy playing all kinds of sports but I’m not really good at any of them. My love of photography and my culture compelled me to become AAA historian, though I hope to do much more for AAA than just take pictures. In addition to increasing membership participation through sib fam events and pan-Asian forums, I hope to update AAA’s institutional memory and increase acceptance of Asian culture and identity on campus. When I’m not taking pictures at AAA events I am taking pictures for the Crimson or trying to improve student life in the Undergraduate Council.
Cultural Co-Chairs
Seiji Liu
Hi, my name is Seiji and I’m a Sophomore living in Kirkland House concentrating in Economics and deciding between a secondary in East Asian Studies or Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. I was born and raised in Southern California. I am a proud member of the Harvard Varsity Golf Team and am also actively involved with the Harvard Club Squash Team as Co-Captain. Aside from AAA, I am a part of the Veritas Financial Group, Harvard Investment Association Fund, and volunteer with Cambridge School Volunteers, mentoring and teaching young kids. AAA Board appealed to me because there was an internal desire to be a part of a tight-knit organization with a focus on tackling societal issues, providing, planning and carrying out social/cultural events and fostering a sense of unity and awareness among the Asian-American community. I enjoy working out, traveling the world, listening to music, dancing, playing and watching all kinds of sports, investing, and reading up on financial news among other things. I am greatly looking forward to working with our amazing AAA board this year and making it the best one yet!
Kris Liu
Hey everyone! I’m Kris and I’m a sophomore living in Eliot concentrating in Neurobiology. I joined AAA because I am passionate about empowering Asian Americans and working to overcome many unique challenges that we face. I am a C-pop and K-pop enthusiast (if you love K-pop too we will probably be very good friends), and I love Boba from my native Taiwan, karaoke, and Kung Fu movies. I have a weakness for sweet, juicy fruits, especially mangoes, peaches, and pears. I absolutely love my job as Cultural Co-Chair and the fAAAm. Outside of AAA, I raise awareness of Hepatitis B among Asian immigrants in the Boston Area through Team HBV and just recently joined Harvard Taekwondo (white belt here, so don’t pick a fight with me just yet!).
Media Chair
John Lo
Hey there, see you’ve found the board bio page…stalker. Just kidding, it’s good to stay interested in who we are and what we’re about. My full name is John C. Lo ( some people call me J-Lo (actually have the same birthday) or C-Lo, the C doesn’t stand for anything, weird huh?) and I am a freshman residing in Matthews North. Currently I am considering concentrating in Economics with Government and perhaps a sprinkle of Statistics, but we’ll just have to wait and see. As Media Chair I hope to supplement and combine the synergistic potentials of the different chairs to really provide a much more open, substantial, and interactive experience for AAA members. As one of the most diverse and all encompassing organizations on campus, AAA is uniquely positioned to provide resources for all within and without the Harvard community and it is my goal to make sure that potential is realized through proper media emphasis. Usually you’ll find me working on a number of different start ups (a hipster’s alternative to a steady occupation?) or reading a highly interesting book (to me at least…) regarding the role of competing domestic organizational interests in international conflict.
Webmaster
Yi Han
I’m a senior applied math major who’s lived in Beijing, London, New Jersey, New Hampshire and a couple other places growing up. I’m proud of AAA’s long history of pursuing social justice and raising awareness and its commitment to bringing people together. When not at AAA events, you can find me helping organize the Harvard Dandelion Initiative, hiking in the woods with FOP, or just chilling and having late night conversations with friends.
