ECAASU 2012 Conference @ Duke Video!
Check out what our lovely Spokeswoman and Outreach Representative Henna Tailor put together!
Taking a look back at some of the highlights of the ECAASU 2012 Conference at Duke University!
Internship Opportunities for APIAVote! Apply Now!
Below is an excerpt from the APIAVote Website! These are great opportunities for students to get involved and take active roles in the community! Scholarships and stipends are offered. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, so apply now!
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Looking for an internship with APIAVote in Washington DC? Are you located elsewhere but have some time to lend a few hours as a volunteer for APIAVote? Apply today for APIAVote’s Internship Program or Volunteer Program! Learn how you can make a difference in ensuring that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have a voice in this election.
INTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE:
East Coast Asian American Student Union (ECAASU) Internship – Summer Only
Stipend: $2000
Must be a student at an East Coast university or college. The ECAASU internship focuses specifically on youth leadership and activism. Typical duties of this intern include: establishing conference and workshop materials for youth conferences, developing materials for youth leadership program, learning tactics for engaging and mobilizing, maintaining communications for ECAASU and other youth coalitions.
General Internship – Year-round
The internship program is tailored per organizational needs and intern skills. There is no stipend, but APIAVote is currently promoting the CAPAL Scholarship Program. APIAVote interns may have the opportunity to work on any of the following areas: Communications/Technology (new media and traditional), Field (working with APIAVote partners to mobilize their field campaigns), Policy (research and advocate for policy recommendations), Training (Norman Y. Mineta Leadership Training Institute), or Youth (engaging and organizing our youth coalitions.)
Requirements:
• College or graduate student
• Oral and written communication skills
• Dedicated to promoting civic participation of AAPIs in the electoral and public policy processes
Applications must include:
• Application form
• Resume including Education, Work Experience, Political Experience, Extracurricular Activities, Awards/Honors
• Copy of most current academic transcript
• One page typed essay on your interest in the internship program and describe “What does civic engagement meant to you?”
• Two letters of reference
DOWNLOAD THE APPLICATION FORM
Send your complete application via e-mail or snail mail to: APIAVote Attn: Christine Chen 1850 M St. NW. #1100 Washington, DC 20036 or email to cchen@apiavote.org
Deadlines:
Rolling Deadline – Fall, Winter, Spring, & Summer Internships. For Summer internships, it is recommended that you submit by April 19, 2010 but applications are still open thereafter.______________________________
If you are applying for an APIAVote Internship, we are encouraging you to apply for a scholarship through CAPAL. Please note that in your APIAVote application.
Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership (CAPAL) Scholarships
Deadline: March 30, 2012
The Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership (CAPAL) will award three (3) scholarships to outstanding Asian Pacific American (APA) students committed to public service and community action, who will complete an internship in our nation’s capital during the summer of 2012. CAPAL is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan, educational organization that was founded in 1989 by APA professionals in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Its mission is to promote Asian Pacific American interests and success in public service careers, to provide information and education on policy issues affecting the APA community, and to serve the APA community at large. Click here for more information and to apply!
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VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES!
Do you enjoy writing, fundraising or pouring over data or manipulating databases? Or are you in your heart a graphic designer or enjoy spending way too much time online? Do you get a thrill out of organizing your friends? APIAVote is looking for you to volunteer with APIAVote. We are looking for graphic designers, volunteers focused on communications, social media, research, and fundraising. And of course we can always use more local organizers.
CLICK HERE TO VOLUNTEER FOR APIAVOTE FROM WHEREVER YOU ARE LOCATED!
ECAASU National Board 2011-2012 Accomplishments to date!
While applying for ECAASU 2012-2013 National Board, you may be asking what we have done this past year.
The following are a list of accomplishments as of 3/14/12:
Advocacy: main projects geared towards collecting AA history and building foundation and network for AA Studies
- Established 1st Asian American Studies Honors Society Chapter at Binghamton University – Part of National Asian American Studies Honors Society (NAASHS) project
- Uploaded Interactive Important Dates in Asian American History Timeline
- Award the first Trailblazer Award winner
- 2 fact sheets: (1) Domestic Violence, (2) Diabetes
- 32 “Fact of the Day” starting 7/27/11 to 3/14/12
- 6 “Fact of the Week” starting 6/13/11 to 7/27/11
- Working with APIAVote on Voter Registration
Finance: main projects geared towards fundraising
- NAAAP sponsoring for Fall 2012 Campus Tours
- APIASF, APIACS, and APAC sponsored for the 2012 Trailblazer Award
- Philanthroper.com fundraising initiative on February 17th, 2012
Communications
- Increase in blog activity – point person posted 75 times starting 6/23/11 to 2/28/12
- Campus Tour Fall 2011 – 5 locations
- Bi-Monthly Digest – 17 sent starting from July 2011 to March 2012
Outreach
2 Days until ECAASU 2012 at Duke University!
GET HYPED!
ECAASU 2012 at Duke University
is just 2 DAYS AWAY!
The Duke Conference Board has been working very hard to ensure that you will have the most enjoyable and educational experience! Both the Conference and National Board’s are so excited for everyone coming and cannot wait to meet you! This sold out Conference will be one to remember!
For more details on logistics, workshops, guest speakers and entertainers please visit http://www.conference.ecaasu.org/
Don’t forget to tweet @ecaasu during the Conference with hashtag #flylikeaG6 for your chance to win a FREE ROUND TRIP FLIGHT courtesy of Southwest Airlines! The more you tweet the greater your chances of winning so get creative and tweet away! The winner will be announced at the closing ceremony so don’t miss out!
ECAASU featured on Philanthroper: $1 Can Change The World
If you hadn’t heard, it’s an election year.
And no matter your political affiliation, we can all agree that for a democracy to represent its constituents, we all need to participate.
The East Coast Asian American Student Union is the largest, longest-running Asian American student organization in the nation. Through their strong presence on college campuses, they keep dialogs going to fight prejudice. They also encourage Asian Americans to get involved in the electoral process.
“During election years, we do a lot of voter registration drives,” says the ECAASU’s Ada Chen. “We try to make sure that for every campus that we’re connected to or have a loose relationship with, we get something going there saying, ‘Hey, you can register to vote! Even if you aren’t home, you can vote!’”
In the ECAASU’s case, it’s a particularly salient point. Chen explains that for many first generation Asian American students, they may be coming from immigrant families who’ve never voted in the past.
And if a student doesn’t vote? Who can imagine them ever having a larger voice in public policy?
“We’re trying to encourage people to realize that hey have the power to make a difference. Hopefully, we’ll get more representation in the national government,” says Chen. “Obviously every person we register to vote isn’t going to run for office, but it’s definitely a really good first step, showing them, this is how the electoral proces works.”
Philanthroper is an online web site that shares the stories of non-profit 501(c)3 organizations everyday. ECAASU has been featured on Philanthroper in hopes of mobilizing young Asian Americans to take a stand, vote and change the world around them. It’s not too late! Your contributions can really make a difference and help us continue to do the work that we do. Please take the time to visit this site and contribute to the cause. Every dollar counts. Donate today and make a better tomorrow.
Click the image below to get started!
Happy Lunar New Year- from your ECAASU fam!
Happiest Lunar New Year from all of us at ECAASU!
We hope you are doing well and enjoying the New Lunar Year! It’s a special time full of festivities, food and hopefully lots of hong baos (red envelopes)! 2012 marks the Year of the Dragon and it should be a great and wondrous year! It’s important to remember that the Lunar New Year is a time meant to be spent with your family and loved ones. It’s a good time to give thanks for all they have done for us and to appreciate their hard work in helping us get to where we are now. So, make sure to spend some time with the people who care about you the most and if you’re far away, pick up the phone!- and let them know you love and miss them!
If that wasn’t enough, here’s a wonderful and touching video we found just in time for the New Lunar Year! Enjoy and we hope you have a great one!
You Don’t Want to Miss This! ECAASU 2012!
Don’t forget to register for one of the largest and longest running Asian American Student Conferences in the Nation! Late Registration fee is $65 until February 10th! Register now to secure your spot! We have a great line-up of guest speakers, performers and workshop presenters! Click the image for more information on the ECAASU 2012 Conference! We can’t wait to see you!
“The Mothership of all Asian American student conferences”-Angry Asian Man
Check what Angry Asian Man has to say about ECAASU and our 2012 ECAASU National Conference!
Early Bird Deadline for the 2012 ECAASU National Conference is 1 day away! Register before 12/9! http://www.conference.ecaasu.org/registration/
ECAASU 2012 National Conference! Register Before 12/9 for Early Bird Special!
ECAASU 2012 National Conference
Rediscovery: Renaissance. Revolution.
Redefine what it means to be Asian American. This is the opportunity to learn, share and shape what it means to be an Asian American. Challenge the stereotypes, learn about the history, start a movement, share your experience, engage in hot topics, formulate ideas, and shape the future. ECAASU is where it’s at.
The ECAASU 2012 National Conference will be held at DUKE UNIVERSITY in Durham, North Carolina!! We know you don’t want to miss out on the largest Asian American Conference in the Nation. The conference is scheduled for Friday, February 24, 2012 – Sunday, February 26, 2012. Early Bird Registration ends December 9th, so if you haven’t done so already REGISTER NOW!
ECAASU 2012 National Conference is going to be jam packed with workshops, networking events, special guests, awesome performances and much more! The ECAASU Conference Board has been working really hard to plan an amazing event, so you’ll definitely want to check it out. For more information please visit the ECAASU Conference Website. You can find more detail on all programs, schedules and lodging so that you can plan your trip accordingly! We look forward to seeing you there!
ECAASU at Atlanta
ATLANTA – Arriving into Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport at 6 o’clock in the morning running on little more than a latte and hope, I make my way through the crowds of unfamiliar faces in America’s busiest airport and eventually squeeze my way onto Atlanta’s MARTA light rail system. Passing through downtown Atlanta, I disembark at the Midtown station, sinking myself directly into the downtown heart of Georgia Tech’s modern campus. As the subway doors close behind me, I take a big sigh of relief. “I’ve made it here,” I think to myself, “I’ve got 14 hours to make my mark.”
My two tasks for the day? To explore, and to inspire.
Stepping outside the station, I meet Nghia, one of the students at Georgia Tech who graciously welcomed me at this early hour. With about five hours to spare until the start of the ECAASU mixer, I got an unparalleled opportunity to explore the heart of Atlanta. Other than random tidbits of information I picked up (like the fact that Atlanta is the proud home of Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines), I quickly cast Georgia Tech as one of “those schools.” You know, the kind swarming with engineers, Asian engineers with foreheads pressed against their books and fingertips glued to their calculators, crunching numbers and downing coffee even before 9AM. On a Saturday morning.
Coming from a university with a liberal arts curriculum, Georgia Tech was perhaps my worst fears realized—a place of conformity to the stereotypes that we try so often to combat: the Asian nerds, the geeks, the can’t-get-any caricature with which we are so often confronted in the mainstream media. The reason why I, as a political science and psychology major, will always be confused for an engineer or a doctor.
Before I can catch myself, I am greeted by the two organizers of the ECAASU Atlanta mixer—Claire and Gar—who also happen to be the founders of the Asian American Student Union at Georgia Tech and my newfound acquaintances for the remainder of my time here. Over coffee at the hipster-esque brunch joint West Egg, I had so many questions to ask them about their campus life, the state of Asian American activism on their campus, but I had to refrain: we had a show to run, and, however curious I was, it would have to wait.
Wrapping up brunch, we made our way quickly to Georgia Tech’s Student Success Center, overlooking the football stadium, where we were greeted by some of the other AASA members. What struck me was how similar they were to my own ASA board back at Duke, and to some degree our ECAASU National board too. They were young, bright, a little overwhelmed, but enthused nonetheless.
Before long, students started trickling in, and the mixer was underway. After a hurried introduction of ECAASU National, the conference, and our many programs, Emory University’s Dean of Students Donna Wong joined us in our dialogue, sharing her own experiences as an advocate of Asian American studies programs; as a native of California (or what I often refer to as the Mecca of Asian American activism), Dean Wong was certainly no stranger to Asian American issues herself. In a speech that resonated with many of the students present, she highlighted her own conflicted experiences as an Asian woman but an American citizen, a self-proclaimed balancing act of two identities and a tension that so many of us contend with in our everyday lives.
Following her welcoming remarks, David Wang—a University of Michigan student studying at Georgia Tech for the semester—joined me in sparking a discussion on all things Asian American. We had no set agenda or talking points; we wanted to let the interests of the students in the room guide our conversation. To say the least, the conversation was tough. If you’ve ever tried to lead a discussion in a room full of engineers, you know the feeling.
After some prodding, we realized that many of the students present, though from various schools and of myriad experiences, had never heard of Asian American studies in their lives. Few had heard of “the model minority” stereotype, and even fewer had heard of Vincent Chin or acclaimed activists like Grace Lee Boggs. Some didn’t even know what Japanese internment was, or that there were immigration restrictions placed on Asians immigrating to the United States.
However, what students lacked in factual knowledge, they made up in interest and curiosity. The collective narrative that slowly emerged from the students in the room centered around the notion of identity: while the students may not have known about the White House Initiative on AAPI’s or the popular Angry Asian Man blog, they did know the hurt when their friends called them a racially-charged epithet, or the isolation they felt in elementary school when they were teased for bringing fried rice to school instead of a turkey sandwich like their peers.
Despite our differences, there was a singular strand of history that bound all of us in the room together: the perception of our shared identity. While each one of us had a nuanced experience and a distinctive life story, we were identified as simply an “Asian face” to the rest of the world, nuance and distinction lost. Surely, there were efforts to break free from these stereotypes or at least merge them with a hybrid Asian American identity; the performers were certainly an exemplification of this—the dance group “Ninja” and the Chinese Yo-Yo performance were not only stunning performances in their own right, but also testaments to the enduring struggle to define what is (and what isn’t) Asian American.
The ECAASU mixer was an eye-opening experience for me in a number of ways. It showed me that Asian American students from diverse backgrounds can share common, though distinctive, experiences. It affirmed for me the fundamental wisdom to never judge a book by its cover—and to mistake lack of information for disinterest. It illustrated to me that Asian America takes many forms and faces, and that, we, at ECAASU, need to continue to work to meet people where they are, to appeal to them on their own terms. And, finally, it showed me that what drives movement is not merely passion, but curiosity. Curiosity is the cousin of possibility and the seed of activism.