Students for Asian American Studies at UNC (SAAS) — a student-led organization — launched a petition last week with demands to expand the Asian American Center, with calls to disaggregate study curriculums for Asian ethnicities and establish a degree-oriented Asian American Studies program at the University.
The petition, entitled “Demands from Asian American UNC Students”, has gathered over 600 signatures as of Feb. 13 from students, faculty and alumni across 10 different schools.
Joanna Yeh, a sophomore and SAAS member, said she sees diversity in signatures to be critical to the petition's goal.
“It's somewhat less about numbers than it is about the variety of students, faculty and community voices because then we can show that this isn't just a niche topic that is only relevant to a few groups of students,” she said. “This is something that is recognized everywhere, by everyone.”
Although Asian American students have been attending UNC since the late 1800s, an Asian American Studies program has yet to be established, sophomore and SAAS member Divya Aikat said.
“We have student organizations and dance groups and we just started the Asian American Center, but we still don't have an associated major studies program specifically for Asian American Studies,” she said.
While the University does have a Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Christina Huang, founder of SAAS, said she believes a separate Asian American Studies program is necessary for the success of the University.
“It's very different because, as Asian Americans, we are the minority group and talking about the lived experience of activism in America versus being a majority in Asia,” she said. “Both are very important, but it's also important to separate the two narratives and explore both concentrations differently.”
Currently, UNC includes less than 10 Asian American Studies courses in its catalog, Aikat said. And availability depends on professors, level and availability each semester.
