Celebration Includes Guest Speakers, Performance, and Dialogue On Important Topics

In March, the Wellesley community gathers to celebrate Asian Awareness Month. Wellesley students, faculty, and staff are working together to learn, discuss, and advocate for important issues around Asian and Asian-American experience. This month’s programs will raise awareness and help prepare students to tackle issues such as minority women in politics, affirmative action, immigration, sexuality, and mental health.

"For the past few months, Asian Awareness Month student coordinators, Ally Ang ’17 and Chelsea Kim ’17 as well as my office assistant, Amanda Foun ’17, have been working to bring five great events to campus,” explained Karen Shih, assistant dean of intercultural education and advisor to students of Asian descent. “This year, our speakers will include Mayor Lisa Wong, scholar/activist Ling-Chi Wang, singer Meera Mohan-Graham '05, and spoken word artist Princess Chan, who will all share their stories as Asians and Asian Americans.”

For Foun, this month provides much-anticipated opportunities for dialogue and inspiration. "I am so thrilled for this year's events!” she said. “We are bringing in some incredible speakers who will help start dialogues on campus about topics that are often avoided. I am particularly excited for our first event, our keynote speaker, Mayor Lisa Wong. Underrepresentation is a major issue within the political sphere among Asian women, and I hope her talk will inspire and encourage Wellesley students to not let their race or gender stop them from pursuing their career aspirations.”

Another featured speaker, Meera Mohan-Graham ’05, is looking forward to returning to campus and sharing her experiences navigating identity and self. Her event is titled Picking Up My Pieces, an original performance. “Professionally and personally, singing has always been an outlet for me,” she explained, “in particular, where words have failed me, I've often turned to songs in musical theatre that seem to tell my story for me. So it's natural for me to combine my own journey with the music that so often spoke for me, and it's only fitting that Wellesley will be the first place that I present this short narrative piece.

She added, “My story is just one story. It's not every Asian American's story, or every Indian American's story. But if that story makes even one student find their voice, or feel less alone, I consider it worth the telling.”

This month’s events are sponsored by the Advisor to Students of Asian Descent, The Wilson Fund, The Edwards Fund, Mayling Soong Fund, the Ching Jen Lum Fund; and the psychology, education, women and gender studies, and theatre studies departments.

Join Us in the Following Events

Asian American Women in Politics
Mayor Lisa Wong
Pendleton Atrium
Thursday, March 5th at 5 PM

Affirmative Action and the Asian Community
Ling-Chi Wang, University of California-Berkeley
Multifaith Center
Wednesday, March 11th 5 PM

Coffeehouse
Tishman Commons
Saturday, April 4th 7 PM

Princess Chan Poetry Workshop
Registration required
Princess Chan
Lulu Cow Chair Room
Saturday, April 4th 11 AM-2 PM

Picking Up My Pieces: One Brown Girl’s Journey to Making It Work
Meera Mohan-Graham '05
Tishman Commons
Thursday, April 16th 5:30 PM