Dear Colleagues,
May is Asian Pacific American (APA) Heritage Month - a celebration of the achievements and contributions from people of Asian and Pacific Islander descent in the United States. There is incredible diversity among Asian Pacific Americans, including people whose heritage reflects China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Pakistan, Nepal, Burma, Bhutan, Myanmar, the Philippines, the Samoan Islands, Guam and people such as the Hmong and the Mien. APA Heritage Month was chosen to fall in May specifically to commemorate the first wave of Japanese immigration to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869; an accomplishment made possible through the labor of Chinese immigrants.
This year we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month being passed into law. Around one in every sixteen US residents has Asian heritage, and over 1.5 million claim Pacific Islander heritage, including Native Hawaiian and Chamorro. Here at Berkeley, one out of every five staff members self-identifies as Asian American or Pacific Islander. Our campus' seventh chancellor, Chang-Lin Tien, was the first Asian American to head a major research university in the United States. He was also one of the most popular and respected leaders in American higher education and an engineering scholar of international renown, spending nearly his entire professional career here at UC Berkeley.
Asian Pacific American Systemwide Alliance (APASA), one of our identity-based staff organizations, exists to promote inclusivity, support professional development, and advocate for Asian American and Pacific Islander staff, faculty and students on campus. To celebrate the heritage month, APASA is holding many events in May, such as happy hours, fundraisers, mentorship programs and cultural events. UC Berkeley also has many academic departments and resources touching those of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage, including, but not limited to, the Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies Program, the Institute for South Asia Studies, the Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures< /span>, the Asian Pacific American Student Development Office and of course, the East Asian Library, which houses one of the most comprehensive collections of materials in East Asian languages in the country. Online, you can view the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, an amazing example of a “museum without walls that places communities first.”
We encourage you to learn more and get involved by taking advantage of some of these planned events and resources across campus.
Warmest wishes,
Oscar and Jo
Oscar Dubón, Vice Chancellor, Equity & Inclusion
Jo Mackness, Interim Assistant Vice Chancellor, Human Resources