TU celebrates APIDA experiences, stands up against anti-Asian hate

By Kyle Hobstetter & Rebecca Kirkman on May 13, 2021

During the last year throughout the United States, many members of the Asian Pacific Islander and Desi American (APIDA) community have faced increased racial hate, intimidation and violence. Some estimates have violence toward members of the community rising by 150%.

The inclusive and supportive campus of Towson University has been an environment where young adult members of the APIDA community can feel safe and thrive.

Many campus groups have been elevating APIDA stories and experiences, including the Asian Arts & Culture Center, the Office of Inclusion & Institutional Equity, the Counseling Center, the Center for Student Diversity and affinity groups like the Asian Faculty & Staff Association, the South Asian Student Association and the sorority Alpha Sigma Rho.

These efforts come at a time when TU has debuted its inaugural diversity strategic plan. May is Asian Pacific Islanders Awareness Month, and TU is continuing to focus on creating a more inclusive community.

“It is our hope to give all students, faculty and staff a sense of belonging on our campus,” says Leah Cox, vice president of inclusion & institutional equity. “We want to continue to support programming, education and initiatives that highlight and celebrate our identities.”

Students’ call to action

The first and only Asian-interest Greek organization on campus, Alpha Sigma Rho’s members develop close relationships, find their voice and foster academic success. 

“In my high school there were not a lot of Asians, so being able to share that connection with others on Towson’s campus is what really caught my attention,” says Angel Lynne Galutira ’22, president of Alpha Sigma Rho.

Following the March 16 murders in Atlanta, Alpha Sigma Rho hosted “Stop Asian Hate: A Call to Action Against Anti-Asian Hate and Violence” on March 25 over Zoom. 

The event, which was supported by G Wei Ng, psychologist and diversity counselor for the TU Counseling Center, enabled the sorority to share information on the ongoing attacks on the Asian community, have an open discussion and provide resources to the Towson University community. 

“Students who attended were very appreciative of the space as they often feel invisible and isolated in their experiences,” says Ng.

“There has been so much hate toward our community, and I couldn’t stand and do nothing, especially with the elderly being attacked,” says Amanda Lien ’23, Alpha Sigma Rho’s vice president of external affairs. “Seeing it in the news was absolutely heartbreaking for me and being in this organization, we obviously want to spread Asian awareness.”

Many groups and organizations on campus joined the event, which the sisters of Alpha Sigma Rho called “very healing.”

“A lot of my other friends from the Multicultural Greek Council, across all the different chapters and multicultural sororities, were able to commiserate with us. We bonded over similar experiences that have been formed through the experience of people of color in America,” says Christina Bishop ’23, Alpha Sigma Rho’s historian. “So, they were able to relate with us on a new level, and we were able to hear their support. I feel like it was very healing and therapeutic for us.”

In fact, the sorority says having more opportunities for these types of discussions is one of the best ways the Towson University community can support its students of color.

“Acknowledgement is really important because there's a lot of erasure of Asian issues and Asian hate right now because of the model minority myth and how that's replicated in our society,” Bishop adds, referring to the harmful stereotype of holding one racial group apart as socioeconomically successful when contrasted with other groups. “There's this understanding that Asians have a different experience from other people of color, but that doesn't mitigate what their experiences are and what they're going through.”

Finding support in the Tiger community

Since the start of the pandemic, the TU Counseling Center has offered mental health resources through its website and social media to cope with and combat the rising anti-Asian xenophobia and racism.

And in March the Counseling Center ramped up virtual services to support students, faculty and staff. 

A virtual support group centering voices of APIDA students led by Ng on March 29 was one of several sessions, including one with the Asian Faculty & Staff Association and Alpha Sigma Rho. For Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Ng says there will be a series of engaging social media posts on the Counseling Center’s accounts.

“Part of the API experience is that we often times feel invisible or unheard in the conversation surrounding race and racism, and it’s unfortunate that it took six lives lost for the nation to recognize that anti-Asian racism does exist,” Ng says.

Elevating the APIDA experience through art

For more than 50 years, the Asian Arts & Culture Center (AA&CC) has engaged the university and surrounding communities in cross-cultural dialogue through a broad range of artistic and cultural learning experiences.

The only organization of its kind in the region, the center was established in 1971 to challenge the dehumanization of Asians that fueled U.S. imperialist interests in Southeast Asia.

In a similar way, the center serves as a resource to combat anti-Asian hate today by elevating APIDA voices and inviting conversations and connections through its art and programming. 

“I think there's no stronger tool to promote peace and understanding than the arts,” says Joanna Pecore, director of the AA&CC and faculty adviser of Alpha Sigma Rho. “And when someone asks us, ‘What can we do to address racism and cultural inequity?’ I say, ‘We're doing the strongest, most effective thing that anybody can do.’”

Unfortunately, Pecore adds, the arts are often overlooked when it comes to diversity efforts.

“I think there's a lack of understanding of the power of the arts to facilitate conversation,” she says. “We're more than an art gallery, but even if we were just an art gallery, art has the ability to make people have personal connections.”

Since its inception, the center has prioritized engaging with the community. It was decades ahead of many galleries in offering interactive programming opportunities alongside exhibitions, such as performances, artist Q&As and workshops.

“The same kind of work that we do right now, they were doing in the ’70s,” Pecore adds, noting that the center took the experience into the community through a mobile exhibition called the Asiavan. “It’s really impressive what this center has been doing for 50 years.”

This spring, the center’s programming focuses on the theme “ElevAsian: Honoring AAPI Experiences,” a collection of exhibitions and virtual events featuring Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) artists and culture that culminates with the festival “Asia North 2021: A Celebration of Art, Culture & Community.”

visit

Asia North 2021

From the Asian Arts & Culture Center and the Central Baltimore Partnership, “Asia North 2021: A Celebration of Arts, Culture and Community” brings together more than 40 artists in the Station North Arts District (Baltimore’s historic Korea town) and online through May 15.

AA&CC Program Manager Nerissa Paglinauan, who curated the exhibition, says the center’s greatest power is to facilitate communication. She hopes collaboration and partnerships will continue to grow within the university and the broader community.

“I am grateful that there is this platform through the center, but we could do so much more,” she says. “We want everyone to know that we're here to work with them, support them and facilitate communication. There's so much potential, and we need to use this moment to bring something positive out of what’s going on and start moving things in the right direction.”