AsianWeek Staff Report, Apr 27, 2007

San Francisco — Seeking to address a range of educational and administrative issues affecting Asian American students, teachers and administrators, the Asian and Pacific Americans in Higher Education will hold its conference, "Going Back to Our Roots — A 20th Anniversary Celebration of Activism and Empowerment," May 3-5 at Laney College in Oakland.

Established and organized originally by Asian American faculty and administrators as an advocacy group, APAHE has been dormant for the last five to six years. Organizers hope this conference will not only renew its core focus but also re-establish APAHE as a leader and a voice for Asian American educational issues.

APAHE was originally established in California in the mid-1980s to provide a voice to Asian American educational administrators and faculty who witnessed firsthand the glaring lack of CEOs heading colleges and universities. While making inroads into this issue, it lost focus when it sought to be a national organization. Frank Chong, president of Laney College, the conference’s host school, hopes APAHE can recapture its mission by placing an emphasis on California issues. Chong points out that while 16 percent of the University of California student body is Asian American and 25 percent of California State University students are Asian American, only two percent of the CEOs are Asian American.

"When the organization was founded, our core mission was to create opportunities for qualified Asian Americans to become the lead decision makers at these institutions of higher learning,' said Chong. "The numbers clearly show little progress for our community in this area. We need now, more than ever, a united voice with one goal, given our growing student population."

Added APAHE founder Dale Shimasaki: "APAHE has served as a catalyst for issues of anti-discrimination, as in the aftermath of the Wen Ho Lee case. Citing the disgraceful treatment Lee received, APAHE launched an effective boycott of weapons laboratories by Asian American scientists and academics. Their efforts led to new hiring and outreach plans by the laboratories towards Asian Americans, with safeguards to prevent racially profiling of Asian American employees."

UC Berkeley professor and long time APAHE member Ling-chi Wang said the Lee case showed how effective APAHE can be. "During that case we hurt the laboratories where it hurt the most, asking for a boycott of Asian American scientists and academics, and played to our strength.'

Issues covered at the conference include the reduction of affirmative action programs, the problems of Asian American student admissions, and the sparse attention and resources dedicated Asian American Studies courses.

The conference, co-sponsored by Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, has added a special May 4 workshop with leading psychologists addressing issues surrounding the Virginia Tech slayings. The conference will also address the role of politics in advancing the Asian American educational agenda. Speakers such as California Senators Leland Yee and Jack Scott, California Assemblymembers Mike Eng, Mary Hayashi, Ted Lieu, Fiona Ma, Nicole Parra and Anthony Portantino, California State Controller John Chiang, and U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner Michael Yaki will appear.