ECAASU Statement of Clarification on an Event Hosted by the Asian American Student Union at the University of Florida
On February 27, 2022, the Asian American Student Union at the University of Florida (AASU at UF) hosted an event with the theme “Undivided.” In a number of their promotional materials, they called the event an “ECAASU Campus Summit,” or simply “ECAASU.” It is with disappointment that we must clarify today that this event was neither an ECAASU Campus Summit nor in any way an ECAASU event.
AASU at UF did apply to host an ECAASU Campus Summit. After submitting the application, two ECAASU National Board (NB) members serving as Campus Summit Coordinators promptly reached out to the folks who applied to the program, and they all subsequently created a group chat to coordinate a potential Summit. Although they had a few meetings, where they discussed a potential date and some logistics for the event, AASU at UF failed to reply efficiently—or reply at all—to the Campus Summit Coordinators’ messages. We attempted to follow up multiple times with no response. One week before the event, AASU at UF finally responded to the Campus Summit Coordinators, offering them a 30-minute time slot to discuss the workshops to be presented. This meeting occurred on Friday, February 25, 2022, two days before the event. Not wanting to derail an event for which much work had been done, the Campus Summit Coordinators did not raise their concerns and AASU at UF proceeded with the event.
The purpose of ECAASU Campus Summits is to support university organizations to identify pertinent issues to their school, city, or region, as well as to help build connections between schools in their area. There is a heavy focus on collaboration, both between the university-based organizers and ECAASU Campus Summit Coordinators as well as the host school’s students and students from other schools. We often provide or make connections with workshop facilitators, facilitate a community discussion, and send at least one ECAASU representative to an ECAASU Campus Summit. While we encourage schools to customize their summits based on the needs of their organization, their school, and the needs of Asian/American schools in their area, a critical aspect of the Campus Summits program is the guidance of National Board members.
The planning of AASU of UF’s event included none of the aforementioned aspects of an ECAASU Campus Summit. In addition to violating the spirit of the Campus Summits Program, the organizers of the event disrespected both Campus Summit Coordinators. By not responding to their messages and forcing them to conform to a strict time window for even a short 30-minute meeting, the organizers showed a lack of care or respect for the time of our Campus Summit Coordinators. This behavior was not only irresponsible, but also caused the problems that have led to the writing of this statement.
Furthermore, as a 501(c)3 nonprofit and national organization, it is extremely important for ECAASU to be consistent in and aware of all the things that are being published/carried out in our name. Immediately after realizing the extent to which AASU at UF used “ECAASU” to promote its event, we reached out to their Conference Chair expressing our concerns and requesting a meeting so that they could write a public statement clarifying that their event was not an ECAASU event. As of the publication of this statement, we have yet to schedule a meeting. The Conference Chair declined to find time to meet in the two weeks since we reached out and has been uncooperative in setting up a meeting, even within their time frame.
Finally, while we must make clear that we are condemning the wrongful appropriation of ECAASU branding and its logo and the disrespectful behavior shown to our Campus Summit Coordinators, we are not condemning the event itself. We sincerely hope that this event was a meaningful experience for both attendees and organizers. Nevertheless, we respectfully but firmly request that AASU at UF remove all online content connecting ECAASU to the event, including from Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.