TAPIOKA Magazine - Fall 2023 | HOME

TAPIOKA HOME FALL 2023

CREDITS Anthony Nguyen Caitlin Le Ivan Ma Kaly Phan Washy Yang

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Anusha Fathepure Emma Nguyen Janes Le Kathie Nguyen

Ariana Sayeed Erik Phan Jen Nguyen Lili Nguyen

Belal Hossain Grace Simmons Kaella Glenn Mahlinee Chonlahan

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Photographed by Erik Phan and Janes Le

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TAPIOKA MAGAZINE is Oklahoma's first publication with a focus on APIDA-MENA culture and identity. Through written and visual media, we hope to highlight Oklahoma's APIDAMENA community and celebrate the rich heritage and history that comes with it.

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Front and Back Cover Photo by Erik Phan and Janes Le

CONTENTS 06

Letter from the Editor

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Let Us Meet Again

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Oklahoma By Day, Paris By Night

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Home

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Gene Luen Yang: Representation and Home in Comics

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To Better Understand Ourselves: A Primer on Asian American Studies

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The India Student Association

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The Vietnamese Student Association

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The Korean Student Association

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The International Advisory Committee

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In Defense of D.E.I.

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Connect With Us TAPIOKA · 5

Letter from the Editor When I left my childhood home for the first time, I felt an uncontrollable homesickness - a sinking feeling of “I do not know this place, please let me go back.” Although I was only an hour and a half away, that house held years of memories. Of waking up in the morning to the smell of incense and rice. Of harvesting bitter melon from the garden in the backyard. Of a time when life was “easier,” masked by the guise of nostalgia.

At OU, however, I’ve been able to redefine my own meaning of “home.”

“Home” is not solely defined by where we live, but it is where we develop our roots. And it is the memories of the places that I have called “home” that I will carry with me everywhere I go. After all, if we do not hold onto these memories, who else will?

In this issue, we want to focus on the places that we call “home” and how they have shaped our own lives. The creation of this publication has not been an easy journey, but I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who has been involved in this process. It has been an honor to have been able to nurture this creative platform for our community, and I look forward to continuing to do so. But most importantly, I would like to thank you all for listening to what stories we have to tell.

Sincerely,

Anthony Nguyen | Editor-in-Chief

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Let Us Meet Again Written and Photographed by Washy Yang

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There is no direct translation for goodbye in Hmong, but in place, we say ‎sib ‎‎‎‎‎ntsib ‎‎‎‎‎‎‎ dua , “meet again.” It is a phrase said to bid farewell to our guests, family, and friends.

When Thailand would no longer house the Hmong refugees, they were to either immigrate elsewhere or go back to Laos.

At a young age, my parents had to say goodbye to their homes after the communist forces overtook Laos. After the Secret War, the Hmong people were targeted by the overthrown Lao Government for helping the US Army fight. To escape persecution, thousands of Hmong left their homes, crossed the Mekong River to the Thailand border, and settled in refugee camps.

Sponsored by multiple organizations in Minnesota, many Hmong refugees (including my family) received the opportunity to start a new life in the US. Instead of returning to their homeland, my family decided to take a chance and go to America.

In these camps, many Hmong families and clans would live close to each other, for they were all they had left of home. Being together was all that mattered to them at that moment. Although the camps were cramped, scarce in food, and unsanitary, they had their family. It was the place where my mother and father met and got married. The camps became the new homes for the Hmong people.

Cultivating a new life together, the Hmong refugees stayed in those camps for more than twenty years.

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Leaving the camps was the choice a majority of the refugees made, but many had hope that Laos could still be their home. My father's sisters were a few of those who remained in the camps. Because of their marriages, they were to abide by their husbands' choice to return to Laos. Without my aunts, my parents and their families packed up and departed for America.

“Sib ntsib dua os,” my father must have said to them.

Let us meet again.

“Sib ntsib dua os,” my father must have said to them.

Let us meet again.

As a gift for completing high school, my parents decided to take me to see Laos. I was scared to go. I didn't know the first thing about Laos. What fun was there in Laos? And for a month? I was afraid I would miss my home and that I wouldn't enjoy being there.

Not wanting to disappoint them, I agreed and booked the flights.

It was my parents’ third trip back to their homeland, four years since they last saw each other. When it was time to meet up with my aunties, my parents were overjoyed. My aunties cried and embraced my parents, welcoming them back home. It was the happiest I’ve seen my parents.

Throughout my stay in Laos, I learned how captivating the country was. The trees towered over us, bright green and fresh from the monsoon rains. The mountains were high and rigid, perfect for climbing with a rewarding view. Stray dogs would roam and scavenge for food and shelter, while cattle were in barbed wire fences, feeding on freshly rained-on grass. We would go up so high into the mountains, it was as if we were in the clouds.

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The majority of my relatives resided in the mountains, in wooden houses with straw roofs (metal if you were on the richer side). There were several different buildings for separate purposes – one for cooking, one for sleeping, one for bathing, and one for storage.

Children ran around freely, playing with each other in mismatched sandals that were either too big or too small for their feet. Their clothes had faded-out cartoon characters on them, and their hair was dark, smooth, and always neatly put away. To attract tourists, share their culture, and earn a little side cash for some candy, some Hmong children would dress up in traditional wear.

With no photos to see what my mother and father looked like, I could imagine the little faces of my parents as kids while watching the children play. Just two curious Hmong kids who would cheer at the sight of my candy and ask what America was like. It was like I had gone back in time.

Being in Laos felt no different from being at home. It was always humid, hot, and rainy – just like Oklahoma in the summer. But not just that. The food tasted the same, the people were so kind, and they were not as different from me as I thought. The night I remember the most was bonding with my cousin's wife over a seafood buffet because my parents were taking us out. Our differences were far less than our similarities.

As much as I missed my home, I knew I would miss this place just as much. I met so many important people in my life in such a short time that it was difficult to say goodbye.

Before going home, my family received a blessing ceremony from my aunt. Relatives and locals were invited to come feast and give their blessings to me and my family. During the ceremony, my aunt tied a red string on my right wrist for protection from negative spirits and energy.

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Then, friends, relatives, and guests lined up and tied white yarn strings onto my and my parents’ wrists for good luck and blessings.

“Congratulations on finishing school,” my aunt said as she tied a white string to my wrist.

“Travel back home safely, take your spirit with you, and don't leave it because it doesn’t belong here. Don’t miss us so much, but be sure to remember the memories you made here with us.”

Cias peb sib ntsib dua nawm mog.

Let us meet again, dear.

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Oklahoma By Day, Paris By Night Written and Photographed by Tan Huynh

I never thought a couple of DVDs could make me feel so at home.

When I was going through my room, I found some old DVDs my parents had bought from a Vietnamese video store. I was filled with curiosity, so, when my parents had played the DVDs, I ended up watching TV with them. I would later learn that this show was‎‎ Paris ‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎by ‎‎‎‎‎Night. ‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎ I didn't know the Vietnamese language, but it didn’t affect my enjoyment despite the language barrier.

Most of the people performing on ‫‏‬‎Paris ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬by ‫‏‬‎ ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬Night ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬ ‎were around my parents’ age, acting out skits and singing songs. I saw the joyful look on my parents’ faces every time we watched‫‏‏‬‎ ‎‫‏‬Paris ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬by ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬Night ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬, and it felt like my parents were introducing me to a whole different world.

As‫‏‏‬‎ ‎‫‏‬Paris ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎by ‫‏‬‎ ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬Night ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎ ‎‫ ‏ ‏‬helped strengthen my connection to my parents, it also helped my parents maintain their connection to Vietnam. All the Vietnamese foods and the music, those things that weren’t common in America. But they were common in‫‏‏‬‎ ‎ ‎‫ ‏‬‎ ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬by ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬Night. ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬As I kept hearing the performers Paris speak Vietnamese and sing in Vietnamese, it was like I was at a family gathering - at home.

Many years ago, Paris ‫‏‬‎ ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎ ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬by ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬Night ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬ had an event in Oklahoma, held in a casino. I remember as my parents and I entered, we went to where the event was being held and I was surprised by the vast amount of Vietnamese people that showed up. My parents and I greeted one of my dad’s friends, who was also attending the event with his wife.

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Their enthusiasm reminded me of teenagers at a concert. We sat in our seats, and I was so amazed by the quality of their production. We were watching live performances that I had only seen on TV in the past. The event lasted around four hours, but there was an intermission in the middle. During the intermission, I walked past one of my idols: the host of‫‏‏‬‎ ‎‫‏‬Paris ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬by ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬Night ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬, Nguyen Ngoc Ngan. I had seen him on television, YouTube, and wallpaper pictures for so many years, so walking beside him was a once-in-a-lifetime moment that I will always cherish in my heart.

As I continued watching the live show, I saw another legendary figure - Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen.

Seeing her in person felt so surreal because she is one of the most successful women from Vietnam, graduating from law school in the United States before she became one of the‫‏‏‬‎‎‫‏‬Paris ‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎by ‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬Night ‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎MCs. She has an amazing story of having to learn how to read and write in Vietnamese from her mom when she first became an MC. Hearing her story inspires me to this day as someone who can’t read or write in Vietnamese but is hoping to be able to one day.

As we watched the performers and their performances, I thought to myself, “How can I enjoy‫‏‏‬‎‎‫‏‬ ‎ ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬by ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬Night ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎so much when I am not fluent in Paris Vietnamese?” ‎‎‫‏‬‎ ‎‫‏‬‎ ‎‫‏‬‎ ‎‫‏‬‎by ‎‫‏‬‎ ‎‫‏‬‎Night ‎‫‏‬‎ ‎‫‏‬‎ ‎‫‏‬‎ ‎‫‏‬‎ ‎‫‏‬‎ ‎gave Vietnamese people a safe place Paris to express themselves without having to worry whether or not their culture fit the social norms of America. After the event was over and we said our goodbyes, I realized that was one of the few times where we got to celebrate being Vietnamese.

‎ ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬by ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬Night ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎ ‫‏‬‎ ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬gave our community an outlet for our Paris culture to flourish in America, and I’m happy to have been a part of that.

From the way I see it, ‫‏‬‎Paris ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬by ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬Night ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎ ‫‏‬‎ ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎has provided a “home” for the Vietnamese community in various ways. Through ‫‏‬‎Paris ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬by ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬Night ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬, I heard the same traditional Vietnamese songs my parents had listened to in their childhood, and one day, my future children will be able to listen to those same traditional Vietnamese songs. It portrayed Vietnamese families in a light that was different from the stereotypes of the “typical” Asian American family. Seeing uncles and aunts laughing with each other, not taking themselves too seriously, allowed me to see adults - those around my parent’s age - in a different light.

Before seeing these skits, it seemed like I would only hear Asian American parents talk about jobs and academics. In‫‏‏‬‎‎‫‏‬Paris ‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎by ‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬Night ‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎, we got to see what these parents looked like when they were just simply enjoying life. ‫‏‬‎‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬ ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏ ‏‬‎ ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬by ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬Night ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎is the “home” I turn to whenever I Paris want to feel my connection to Vietnam and to my roots. I wouldn’t change that for the world.

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hom

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Photographed by Erik Phan Janes Le

me

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JASON ASOMBRADO "Home" for me has always been a multifaceted concept, shaped by my upbringing and community environment.

Before college, my sense of home was defined by the people, culture, and family connections within my community. However, this was challenging as I didn't have a significant Asian community around me. In the absence of a larger support network, I had to seek connection within a small Filipino community to maintain a link to my cultural roots.

I felt lost for most of my time in high school, as I couldn’t find a community or organization that I truly belonged in. The lack of diversity in both my private Catholic school and suburban neighborhood meant that I had to navigate a space where I was frequently the only person of color in my classes. This experience led to a disconnection from my cultural identity throughout high school.

Transitioning to college at OU was a significant shift. The diversity on campus was a pleasant surprise, especially given my past experiences, and it marked a stark contrast to my predominantly white surroundings growing up. This shift was both eye-opening and exciting, as I felt a renewed sense of belonging and connection.

Joining organizations like AASA that promoted Asian culture at OU became a pivotal part of my college experience.

Throughout the past few months collaborating with AASA, I have experienced mentorship and genuine care from the community. These groups provided a space where I could share my experiences and find individuals who could relate to my journey. This sense of community allowed me to reconnect with my cultural identity, fostering a feeling of "home" within the university setting.

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FARSID ISLAM Home, to me, is a safe space where I can truly be myself without feeling judged.

Before college, home was more than just the house I lived in, it was the people I surrounded myself with, close friends and family who treated me with respect and ones I could go to when I needed advice.

When I first started classes here at OU, I struggled to find a home as a commuter student. I used to just go to my classes and come straight home.

However, sometime in August, I decided to apply for First-Year Representative for AASA. Before applying, I had only been to the first GBM, but I could tell that the Exec and the overall atmosphere of this organization were welcoming and the people seemed very genuine. When I found out that I got the position as a FirstYear Representative, I was ecstatic, knowing that I finally had the opportunity to push myself to meet and interact with others.

At my first Exec meeting, I realized how goofy and real these people truly are, and I was so glad to be put in a space where I honestly felt safe.

My four other First-Year Reps played a role in making me feel safe and not judged. To this day, I am thankful that all five of us got to meet through AASA. As time passed, I started visiting the AASA office almost every day when I had free time after my classes. To be honest, I've lost count of the number of people I have met through the office. I started realizing halfway through October that I stopped going home right after I finished classes.

Instead, I would hang out at the office until 9 pm, talking to friends and going on late-night Wingstop runs.

AASA and the AASA Office have truly been my home this year at OU. The people and the environment are what make me feel safe and allow me to be the best version of myself. I am so thankful to be a part of AASA Exec and to have the opportunity to work with the best group of people here on our campus at OU. Thank you AASA for giving me a home away from home.

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MEGHANA NUTHI Home to me has always meant a place of comfort. Somewhere where I feel at peace and at ease. A place where I can unapologetically be myself. People who make me laugh and really feel seen for all the nuances that make me who I am. People who stand by me on both the good days and the bad days, people who make waking up the next day worth it. I’ve always lived in California, and although I moved around a bit in my childhood, I spent the last 12 years of my life in the beautiful city of San Ramon.

People are right when they say that you don’t truly appreciate what you have until it's gone, and I had never felt that more than after my first week of college. The transition has been hard, and I don’t think it’ll ever stop being hard and that’s what took me some time to adjust to.

My culture and heritage have always been a big part of who I am. Being able to embrace my culture to the fullest and speak my mind has always been essential in what I consider a safe space. And AASA has given me that safe space.

Over the course of the last semester, I have made genuine friendships, learned valuable skills, and grown as a person. Being able to represent my community, and work with others who have equally as strong desires to showcase culture and diversity is truly a powerful thing that I am so glad to be a part of.

I’m glad I met the AASA family but most importantly I’m glad for what they've shown me. I can’t replicate what I’ve left behind in California. It's unfair and unrealistic. But that doesn’t mean I can’t find good things here at OU. That I can’t find better things.

That I can’t meet wonderful people.

Because I have.

People who make me laugh and make me feel seen. Who stand by me on both the good days and the bad days. People who push me to be a better person. I think I’ve found my people here at the University of Oklahoma. I think I’ve found my home away from home.

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KAEDE CUMMINGS What is the true essence of "home"? One might argue that it's simply a geographical location, a point on a map denoted by an address. However, is it more than that? Do people strive for a specific destination, a set endpoint, in their pursuit of a place to call "home"?

For me, the concept of home transcends physical spaces; it resides within the connections forged with people. It's the sense of security that delicately covers any lingering scars and quiets nagging doubts.

It's the warmth of endearment that fills my heart in their presence and the overwhelming swell of tears when I reflect on the depth of my care and the fear of losing these cherished individuals.

Home, to me, is the ability to bear my soul to someone without fear of ridicule.

Despite leaving the comforting embrace of my family for college, I found solace in realizing that my family remains my home, regardless of the geographical distance.

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Initially, I grappled with the notion that I couldn't recreate the sense of home at my new location or that I wasn't worthy of others confiding in me. Would I ever find that sensation of home at OU? Those doubts drove me to barricade my heart with walls to protect myself, but all it was doing was deterring people away from me: further reinforcing my fears. I was drowning in a pool of self-pity, never thinking I had the chance to come back up for air.

However, it was my roommates who slowly tore down my defense and pulled me out from the deep depths of my melancholy.

They had started metamorphosing from distant strangers into nurturing sisters. I was blind to their love for so long, but they never stopped giving up on me. My roommates have blessed me with a place to grow, cry, and laugh- something I will never take for granted. They truly are my family, my support system, my home: I love them.

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AKSHAY KOUSHIK When thinking of home, the first thing that comes to my mind is the traditional food. My mom had a vegetarian cooking blog from the time I was little, so growing up, I would always have some new Indian dish to try when I got home. The aroma of spices and the familiar taste of home-cooked meals created a comforting and welcoming atmosphere that became synonymous with the concept of "home" for me.

Before college, home was not only a place defined by the physical space and the meals but also by the people around me and the abundant cultural experiences I could participate in. Attending the temple for festivities such as Diwali was something that I would always look forward to, as it meant catching up with the Indian community and seeing those who were visiting home from college and out of town. This was all backdropped with a special vibrancy as the temple glittered with lights and fireworks were shot off in celebration.

This sharing of our culture made it feel like I was a part of something bigger than myself, and I look forward to continuing these traditions later in life.

After coming to OU, finding a sense of home seemed daunting, especially with the absence of my family and the familiar culture that represented my previous concept of home.

However, it wasn't long before I found a community that I was happy to be a part of and felt like I belonged. AASA gave me a group of people with similar life experiences and interests, and also several upperclassmen who I could reach out to for advice. The combination of several Asian cultures has exposed me to different traditions and festivities and helped me learn so much more about other cultures similar to my own. I’ve made some of my closest friends in this organization, and I look forward to continuing to be a part of the association in the coming years.

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Gene Luen Yang: Representation and Home in comics

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Talks with American Born Chinese Author Gene Luen Yang and Analyses on Asian American Identity, Home, and Representation In Comics Written by Anusha Fathepure & Grace Simmons

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Some quotes in this article have been edited and condensed for the sake of clarity and continuity.

“Being an Asian American is just as valid as any other identity in the country.”

In the vibrant realm of graphic novels and comic books, Gene Luen Yang stands as an illuminating figure whose work transcends traditional boundaries, weaving intricate narratives that resonate with readers of all ages. An accomplished cartoonist, writer, and educator, Yang’s ability to touch on sensitive topics with a sympathetic tone has allowed him to carve a niche for himself in the literary world.

Yang’s work is characterized by its diversity and depth, addressing a wide range of themes that challenge societal norms and provide a lens through which young readers can explore profound questions. His works often serve as a bridge between cultures, reflecting his commitment to fostering understanding and empathy through the universal language of storytelling.

Born in 1973 in California, Yang's journey into the world of comics began at an early age, fueled by his passion for storytelling and his interest in the art of visual narratives. For Yang, comics have always felt like home.

“My parents fought a lot when I was a kid…so my brother and I, a lot of times when my parents were fighting, we would be in a room reading comics,” Yang said. “There was a sense of safety there, a sense of feeling like the Marvel Universe was maybe more of a home than our actual home was. The fights that happened in the Marvel Universe, they always get resolved in 22 pages and the heroes always come out on top.”

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In October of 2023, Yang was awarded the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature for his critically-acclaimed graphic novel American Born Chinese. For the Neustadt Lit Fest, he visited Norman where he accepted the prize, spoke about his work, signed books, and met with OU students.

Published in 2006, American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang is a graphic novel that weaves together three interrelated stories: the struggles of Jin Wang, one of the few Asian American students in his school system; the legend of one of the most prominent characters from Chinese mythology, the powerful Monkey King; and the sitcom of Chin-Kee, a personification of Chinese stereotypes, who ruins his cousin Danny’s life. These three stories weave together to explore themes of identity, cultural heritage, and self-acceptance.

Within the novel, Yang interconnects seemingly disparate narratives, illustrating how the characters’ struggles with their identities overlap. Jin Wang's narrative explores the difficulties he encounters as a Chinese American boy trying to fit into American culture while facing racial stereotypes and bullying.

Gene Yang pictured alongside Anusha Fathepure during his office hour

The Monkey King's story, on the other hand, delves into themes of arrogance and the quest for acceptance, presenting an allegory for those who have faced cultural discrimination. Danny and Chin-Kee's narrative brings in elements of conformity and selfdenial, bringing to life the internal push and pull of identity to illustrate the sacrifices some make to fit in with their peers.

After years of praise and accolades, in 2021, news arrived that American Born Chinese would be adapted as a live-action Disney+ streaming series. Despite the excitement, there were also fears from many, Yang himself included, of how an adaptation could be created.

One of the most shocking and thought-provoking aspects of American Born Chinese was the character of Chin-Kee, a caricatured, exaggerated version of a traditional Chinese character, with features and behaviors that perpetuate stereotypes. Physically, Chin-Kee is depicted with exaggerated stereotypical traits, such as a queue hairstyle, large buck teeth, and traditional Chinese attire. These physical features are intentionally overblown to mirror the demonic and dehumanized portraits of Asians throughout the early 20th century, highlighting the harmful nature of racial stereotypes and the impact they can have on individuals.

Chin-Kee's behavior is equally exaggerated—speaking in broken English, using inappropriate idioms, and engaging in behaviors that perpetuate the "foreigner" stereotype.

Within the graphic novel, his character serves as a commentary on the harmful effects of racial stereotyping, illustrating how such caricatures can be dehumanizing and contribute to feelings of alienation and otherness, but in a live adaptation, Yang feared the character on screen could be counter-intuitive to the point he wanted to make in the novel’s original release back in 2006. He worried that clips of his caricatured nature would be taken out of context and shared over social media in a racially offensive way.

“I was worried about how some of the aspects of that book were going to make it onto a television screen,” Yang said. “I was worried that those pieces would come out really weird.”

It wasn’t until he talked with the producers Kelvin Yu and Melvin Mar that Yang felt someone might safely introduce Chin-Kee to the screen. Kelvin Yu said his solution was to approach the character from a new direction, directly addressing Yang’s fears.

Gene Yang in a Zoom panel discussion with “American Born Chinese” showrunner Kelvin Yu

“The answer…is you take the problem, you say it out loud, and you bake it into your process,” Yu said. “If Gene was worried about that character being clipped onto TikTok out of context, what if that is the plot in the show? What if we make the cousin character a beloved nostalgic character from the 90s, and he's being clipped into TikTok and Instagram? So we just put it right in the show.”

The character of Chin-Kee was reimagined as a character named Freddy Wong. Played by Oscarwinning actor Ke Huy Quan, Freddy Wong appears in self-contained scenes of the show-within-the-show, “Beyond Repair”.

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The character, although toned down from the novel’s Chin-Kee, is portrayed as a clueless and eccentric foreigner with a thick accent who often mixes up words, playing on harmful stereotypes of Asians in America.

Within the fictional world of the American Born Chinese series, the ’90s-style family sitcom “Beyond Repair” has gained new popularity on social media, and the character of Freddy Wong has become a meme used to make fun of Asian kids, like Jin, using the tagline “What could go Wong?”.

“Suddenly, it's like the character that he's talking about is an explicit representation of a lot of the stereotypical images that Asians grow up with,” Yu said.

Following the show’s release, it was nominated for numerous TV awards and even screened in the White House by President Biden in celebration of AAPI Heritage Month. The adaptation has received many praises for its elegant yet entertaining way of approaching the experiences of second generation Asians and the difficulty of fitting in, mirroring the way the novel was received in its original release 17 years ago.

Yang's ability to empathetically and emphatically tell stories of racism and identity struggle through relatable characters like Jin in American Born Chinese is tied to his own relationship with identity and bleeds over into how he approaches other work. His 2014 work, The Shadow Hero, allows us another insight into what being Asian American means to him.

Gene Yang teaching a comics workshop during his visit to the University of Oklahoma

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Gene Yang pictured with Grace Simmons at the Neustadt Lit Banquet

The Shadow Hero is an origin story for the Green Turtle, a superhero that precedes Yang’s time. The Green Turtle first appeared on pages in Blazing Comics in 1944, being discontinued after only 5 issues were released. A skilled fighter, the superhero wore a turtle-shell cape and aided the Chinese in their fight against the Japanese during World War II. Yang’s interest in the character was sparked by the rumors surrounding the absence of the character’s face.

In every panel the titular character appears in, his face happens to be obscured or faced away from the view of the reader; this allegedly was an intentional choice by the author, Chinese American writer Chu F. Hing, to spite his editor at the time. Hing originally wanted to create a Chinese American superhero, but his editor believed an Asian superhero wouldn’t be profitable. According to Yang, Hing “reacted really passive aggressively” and never showed the superhero’s face.

The comic was discontinued very early into its run so Hing never got around to revealing whether or not the Green Turtle was actually Chinese American, which intrigued Yang. He thought this was a gap in Chinese American history that could be filled, and so he called up his collaborator Sonny Liew and got to work to create an origin story that outright displayed the superhero as Asian American.

In a class discussion with the Neustadt Literature class, Yang was asked why it was so important for him to take the story of the Green Turtle and finally cement him as an Asian American superhero.

“There's just this feeling that came over me when I read about him, and I think it has to do with the fact that a lot of times…for my generation, a lot of Asian Americans felt like we were perpetual foreigners; like we were treated as foreigners even if we were born here,” Yang said.

Yang described superheroes as a deeply American genre, detailing how the rise of this superhero genre paralleled America’s emergence as a superpower on the global stage. This is what made this early superhero so impactful for him.

“To find out that there's this character who might be an Asian American at nearly the beginning of a genre that was quintessentially American, it kind of felt like comics history was telling me that people who look like me were there from the beginning, even if we had to hide our faces, we were there from the beginning,” Yang said. “There's just something very affirming about that, and Sonny and I kind of made the story out of that feeling of affirmation.”

Gene Yang pictured with Neustadt class and Trung Le Nguyen

Despite his current passion for The Green Turtle, Yang didn’t always hold this attitude towards Asian representation in comics. Opening up about his initial aversion to Asian heroes when he was young, he described how he had adamantly avoided comics such as Marvel’s Shang-Chi as a kid, trying to distance himself from any Asian stories.

“I did go through a long period of my childhood where I was embarrassed about being Chinese American. I was embarrassed about my parent's accent, I was embarrassed about the food that we ate, I was embarrassed about even the way my face looked, y'know? And I think I had to figure all that stuff out before I was ready to explicitly embrace stories about people who look like me.”

This embarrassment and shame of himself, his family, and his culture eventually became a catalyst for Yang’s desire to write Asian American stories as he matured and came to terms with his identity—something he largely credits to his time in college at UC Berkeley, where he first discovered the term “Asian American.”

“That was where I kind of came to terms with this idea that America is sort of a collection of subcultures,” Yang said. “Ultimately, what it means to be an American is expressed differently in different subcultures and it was almost by design...being an Asian American is just as valid as any other identity in the country.”

Yang remarks on how as he’s matured, he’s learned to make peace with certain fights that he’ll have for the rest of his life in regards to the duality of his identity.

Looking to the future, Yang plans to continue to represent Asian American stories, taking pride in creating stories where younger Asian generations can see themselves in a positive and realistic manner in a way that he never experienced growing up.

“When you tell a story to a kid, you're getting a story into their heads at a super important time of their lives. I think all of us, especially as we get older, realize so much of who we are is rooted in our childhood experiences,” Yang said. “So to tell a story that can be part of that for somebody else, it seems like just a real honor.”

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Courtesy of Gidra, Densho 38

To Better Understand Ourselves A Primer on Asian American Studies Written by Oliver Wu

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Photographed by Ray Okamura. Courtesy of Gidra, Densho What is Asian American Studies?

Asian American Studies (AAS) is an interdisciplinary field that seeks to explain the perspectives, histories, cultures, and politics of Asian Americans.

For Asian/Asian American students, it is an opportunity to examine personal identities and their relationships to systems of power. What does it mean to be Asian American? What are an Asian American’s relationships with both “Asia” and “America?” How does the history of Asian America affect the present? AAS aims to provide novel, nuanced, and individualized explanations to these questions (and many more) through classroom discussions, direct involvement with local Asian American communities, and scholarly research.

Arising directly out of student activism during the Civil Rights and Asian American Movements, AAS challenges traditional academic disciplines and teaching methods and aims to redefine grand 40

narratives that marginalize the current and historical experiences of people of color. Spanning a wide range of subjects including history, public policy, sociology, literature, film, law, and education, AAS positions Asian Americans as agents of change and protagonists of their own stories. In doing so, AAS breaks down the Black-white dichotomy that oversimplifies our understanding of race. These curricula also challenge individual racism by allowing students to confront their own biases. In this manner, the inclusion of AAS programs in universities enriches campus perspectives and contributes to building a more inclusive and equitable society.

The Start of Asian American Studies at Universities Galvanized by the Civil Rights Movement and U.S. involvement in Vietnam, student protests became increasingly fervent by the late 1960s.

In particular, the relative diversity of student populations along the West Coast allowed for the genesis of student-led movements seeking the establishment of departments and faculty positions that would examine core academic disciplines such as literature, history, and sociology from the perspectives of racial minorities.

On November 6th, 1968, The Black Student Union (BSU) at San Francisco State College (SFSC) called for one such strike protesting the firing of George Mason Murray, a graduate student and minister of education for the Black Panther Party. While working as a part-time instructor of English courses for minority students admitted to SFSC through special programs, Murray visited communist Cuba and later delivered a speech at Fresno State College in which he allegedly noted “We are slaves and the only way to become free is to kill all the slave masters.” Enraged by these comments, the trustees of the California State Colleges demanded that President Robert Smith suspend Murray.

in U.S. history. After President Smith resigned in late November 1968, Ronald Reagan appointed S. I. Hayakawa as Acting President of SFSC. An active member of the antistrike group the Faculty Renaissance, Hayakawa threatened protestors with expulsion, declared a state of emergency, banned most political actions by students, and ramped up police presence on campus.

Despite Hayakawa’s hardline approach, the TWLF eventually reached a settlement with campus administration that established a School of Ethnic Studies with individual departments of American Indian, Asian American, Black, and La Raza Studies.

A community board was created to provide student input on new faculty appointments (although students were not granted direct control over curriculum, faculty hiring, or admissions), and over one hundred underrepresented students were admitted in the next year under the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP). Asian American Studies was now a formal part of U.S. higher education.

Building upon previous protests, the BSU issued 10 demands including the reinstatement of Murray and the establishment of a Black Studies Department with new, full-time teaching positions. Two days later, the BSU was joined by the larger Third World Liberation Front (TWLF), a coalition of African American, Asian American, Latino, and Native American students that included organizations like the BSU, Latin American Student Organization (LASO), Mexican American Student Coalition (MASC), Pilipino American Collegiate Endeavor (PACE), Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA), and Intercollegiate Chinese for Social Action (ICSA). The TWLF-led protestors now demanded open admissions for all non-white applicants and the establishment of a “School of Ethnic Studies” controlled by Third World people.

Officially ending on March 21st, 1969, the Third World strike remains the longest student strike

Courtesy of Gidra, Densho TAPIOKA · 41

The Evolution of Asian American Studies Originating directly out of community action, organizers of new Asian American Studies (AAS) departments sought to break down barriers between students and professors and center their curricula around addressing real-world issues. Accordingly, initial faculty hires were often political activists who stressed ethnic consciousness and community research.

However, an economic downturn in the 1970s limited the expansion of university programs, and administrators protested investment into such “experimental” subjects. Additionally, AAS became increasingly institutionalized as protestors graduated, activist intensity waned, and young professors focused on career stability. Righteous and passionate condemnations of racism in America were supplanted by contributions to sociological theory and critiques of U.S. society, politics, and media. Starting from a nearly complete dearth of scholarship, foundational works such as ‫‏‬‎‎‫‏‬Roots: ‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬An ‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬ ‎‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬American ‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬Reader ‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎and ‫‏‬‎Aiiieeeee! ‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬An ‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬Anthology ‎‫‏‬‎‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‏‬‎‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬of ‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬‎‫‏‬ Asian ‎Asian-American ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫‏‬Writers ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎ ‫‏‬‎ ‎‫ ‏‬‎‫ ‏‬‎were rapidly released.

Amerasia Journal Journaland the Association for Asian American Studies (AAAS) were both established in 1970s and remain active today. Importantly, core coursework allowed for the creation of formal academic majors and minors, improving the professional outlook of AAS students.

However, community involvement was gradually deemphasized from AAS programs. This trend is the complex result of several factors. At first, students set up programs to address community issues such as housing and access to native language news and heard directly from community members. At first, students set up programs to address community issues such as housing and access to native language news and heard directly from community members.

In this manner, university resources were allocated 42

to the simultaneous betterment of immigrant communities and enrichment of the student experience. Yet, it came into question whether having students staff social services was more effective or efficient at educating them compared to traditional class structures. Additionally, these young students were often unfamiliar with the traditions and institutions of the neighborhoods they worked in, resulting in occasional misguided attempts at “fixing” communities and perceptions of student elitism. It was also noted that entrenching AAS programs in local Chinatowns, Little Saigons, Koreatowns, etc. created a dependency on outside funding and labor without allowing community residents to uplift themselves. As William Wei notes, “often, what AAS programs could provide in the way of assistance was inappropriate to community needs, and vice versa, so that maintaining a relationship was pointless” (p. 139). In more fortunate cases, community involvement was attenuated when outside assistance was impactful and self-sustaining, thereby becoming less necessary.

Rectifying Areas of “Narrative Scarcity” in AAS

Courtesy of Gidra, Densho

Despite these changes in curriculum and a 1980s conservative response to the social reforms and consciousness cultivated in the Civil Rights and Asian American Movements, AAS continued to expand across the U.S. The Immigration Act of 1965 and the arrival of Vietnam War refugees exponentially increased the presence of Asians in universities and America as a whole. Now a much larger demographic force, Asian American students continue to advocate for representation in scholarship. For example, faculty at Williams College approved the creation of an AAS program in 2022 after over three decades of activism from groups like Asian American Studies in Action (AASiA), and in April 2023, Fordham University announced it would offer a minor in AAS. Simultaneously, more established AAS programs and scholars are engaged in an ongoing, decadeslong push to make the subject more inclusive, as discussed later in this essay.

At its conception as an academic discipline, AAS was far from inclusive. The activists who first established these departments were predominantly male, straight, and East Asian (although many Filipino Americans played a crucial role in early activism).

Accordingly, these identities were overrepresented, forming internal hegemonic narratives in AAS that must be proactively challenged. For instance, attempts to bely the model minority myth prompted early AAS scholars to focus on the historical and current participation of Asian Americans in the working class; however, the simultaneous masculine characterization of the working class conceals Asian American sexism and the experiences of Asian American women. Similarly, several early Asian Americanists focused on challenging the Orientalist association of “Asian,” “feminine,” and “passive” by emphasizing masculinity. One such writer Frank Chin adopted this approach by problematically connecting Asians and African Americans through masculinity in works like The Chickencoop Chinaman.

Foundational figures in AAS like Frank Chin not only excluded women, but also discredited the perspectives of queer Asian Americans. Indeed, queerness was almost entirely marginalized from AAS until the last 2-3 decades. This deficiency in the field may also be partially attributed to the general taboo nature of sexuality as a “private” topic in Western academic institutions. While queer Asian Americans remain severely underrepresented in AAS, scholars like Amy Sueyoshi are contributing vital and groundbreaking work to expand our understanding of the intersections of gender, sexuality, and race.

Likewise, South Asian representation in AAS has increased dramatically in recent decades. Due to alternate histories of colonization and migration, South Asian Americans were not present in a sufficient number to support a unified political front during the Asian American Movement from which AAS was born.

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Moreover, the experiences of South Asians both arriving to and living in America are undeniably different from those of East Asians who disproportionately constituted AAS faculty. With Tamara Bhalla, current AAAS President Pawan Dhingra argues that the racial profiling, violence, and discrimination faced by South Asian and Arab Americans after the September 11th attacks closely paralleled the historical experiences of East Asian groups as forever foreigners and threats to national security such as with Japanese Americans during WWII. This perceived convergence of Asian American experiences may partially explain AAS’s recent increased receptivity to South Asian perspectives. Still, non-East Asian identities remain underrepresented in AAS curricula, a fact which circularly reinforces and is reinforced by a relative lack of non-East Asian students in AAS courses. In 2000, Davé et al. argued that “critical mass justifications” in AAS which posit that “you’re worth discussing only when your numbers are large enough” must be overturned for the growth of the field (p. 85).

One final historical deficiency in AAS to be noted here is the focus on the experiences of Asian Americans in California. As the birthplace of AAS, it is unsurprising that the field has been saturated by Asian Californians, and while AAS has expanded to reach the East Coast as well, the rest of Asian America remains severely excluded from scholarship and fieldwork.

AAS at OU Thus, the expansion of AAS at OU already offers the opportunity to grow the discipline by incorporating the experiences of Asians/Asian Americans from a geographic location underrepresented in AAS scholarship. Both OU and the state of Oklahoma have sizable Vietnamese populations, yet little to no scholarship has been written about these immigrant/refugee experiences.

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Dr. David Song Notably, OU houses academic programs for Latinx, Native American, and African American Studies but does not offer a major or minor in Asian American Studies. In Fall 2022, the Honors College hired Dr. David Song, a trained Asian Americanist, sociologist, and ethnographer as an assistant professor of AAS. Dr. Song currently offers a section of Honors Perspectives (HON 2973) on Intro Asian American Studies.

Despite this recent progress, a formal department and degree program dedicated to AAS remains missing from OU academic offerings. Additional faculty hires specializing in AAS subfields like Asian American literature and history would provide students with a much more cohesive and holistic view of AAS. Moreover, the confinement of AAS to the Honors College does a disservice to the community-oriented and egalitarian essence of the subject. Expanding these course offerings to afford general education credits has historically improved the viability and popularity of AAS. As mentioned previously, movements to expand and introduce AAS at individual universities have taken decades to achieve their goals, and OU will likely be no exception.

Nonetheless, we must first demonstrate that OU students are both interested in AAS and are unable to adequately satisfy this interest through OU’s existing course and degree offerings. Accordingly, if you would like to have your experiences (current and former OU students only) represented in efforts to expand AAS at OU, please fill out the survey upon scanning the following QR code: Upon completion of the survey, you will be given the option to enter yourself into a drawing for one of four $25 Amazon gift cards cards. The survey will ask about which classes you have taken at OU and possible encounters with Asian American studies.

We hope to present the results to OU administrators and demonstrate the need for an Asian American Studies department/degree program at the university. All survey responses are completely confidential, and it will only take around 10-20 minutes to complete. Feel free to share the survey with your friends as well! We would love responses from any/all OU students (not just Asian Americans).

References [1] Asian Americans: the Movement and the Moment. Edited by Steve Louie and Glenn Omatsu. Los Angeles: UCLA Asian American Studies Center Press, 2001.

[2] Bhalla, Tamara, and Pawan Dhingra. "12 The Privilege of South Asian American Studies." Journal of Asian American Studies 25, no. 2 (2022): 307-318 [3] Chan, Sucheng. “Whither Asian American Studies?” In Asian American Studies Now: A Critical Reader, edited by Jean Yu-wen Shen Wu and Thomas C. Chen, 477– 95. Rutgers University Press, 2010.

[4] Davé, Shilpa, et al. "De-Privileging Positions: Indian Americans, South Asian Americans, and the Politics of Asian American Studies." Journal of Asian American Studies 3, no. 1 (2000): 67-100.

[5] De Anza College. “Asian American Studies: A Quick Primer.” Accessed November 26th, 2023. https://www.deanza.edu/asam/primer.html.

[6] Hu-DeHart, Evelyn. “The History, Development, and Future of Ethnic Studies.” The Phi Delta Kappan 75, no. 1 (1993): 50–54.

[7] Lee, Jennifer, and Karthick Ramakrishnan. “From Narrative Scarcity to Research Plenitude for Asian Americans.” RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 7, no. 2 (2021): 1–20.

[8] Lowe, Lisa. “The International within the National: American Studies and Asian American Critique.” Cultural Critique, no. 40 (1998): 29–47.

[9] Maeda, Daryl J. Chains of Babylon: The Rise of Asian America. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2009.

[10] Naturalizing Power: Essays in Feminist Cultural Analysis. Edited by Sylvia Yanagisako and Carol Delaney. New York: Routledge, 1995.

[11] The Oxford Handbook of Asian American History. Edited by David K. Yoo and Eiichiro Azuma. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.

[12] Sumida, Stephen H. “The More Things Change: Paradigm Shifts in Asian American Studies.” American Studies International 38, no. 2 (2000): 97–114.

[13] Wei, William. The Asian American Movement. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993.

[14] Yan-Gonzalez, Vivian. “Model Minority or Myth? Reexamining the Politics of S.I. Hayakawa.” Amerasia Journal 48, no. 1 (2022): 24-43.

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Interviewed by Anthony Nguyen Photography Courtesy of ISA

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The India Student Association

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Could you all introduce yourselves and what you do in ISA? EH: Hi, I’m Ethan Haque. In ISA, I’m the Co-Cultural Secretary, and my role is to make cultural events throughout the year in between our major events.

AK: My name is Aniketh Koneru. I’m the Publicity Chair for ISA, so I deal with social media and branding for the organization.

MM: My name is Marzook Mansoor, and I’m the President of ISA. And could you introduce ISA, as well? What are some of the goals of your organization?

AK: ISA stands for the Indian Student Association. We are one of the oldest student organizations on campus, over 60 years old. We bring together the Indian community at the University of Oklahoma, and we host events that celebrate our holidays, traditions, and culture.

How long have you all been involved in ISA? EH: I’ve only been an Exec this year, but this is my fourth year in ISA, believe it or not. When I was a freshman, I went to ISA’s Holi event, and I had a hell of a time. I’ve always been interacting with ISA here and there, but I got more involved last year because all of the Execs were already my friends. Naturally, I saw how a lot of things worked and helped out whenever I could.

This year, we had a midseason call and a spot opened, so I picked it up. “Why not?” So, I’m here now.

AK: I volunteered last year as a part of our organization’s Sub-C group. I helped with setting up events and checking in people. In addition to that, I helped with ISA’s Desi Prom. As a result, I became friends with some of the Exec members last year. This year, I joined the Exec team because I just wanted to contribute new ideas to the organization and help with the branding, bringing in my background as a PR major.

MM: For me, it was the end of Freshman year.

Everything was like, “Damn, I could have done more.”

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They had India Night at the end of that semester, so I was like “I should go and volunteer” like Aniket did.

The next semester, I applied for ISA as Cultural Secretary. After that, I was going to quit because it was a lot of work, but my parents told me, “Hey, you’re in college, you know, you never get to have that chance again.” And so, I went for the Presidency.

It seems that you have developed a strong connection to ISA. How have you found a home within this organization?

EH: What’s special about ISA in particular, personally, is the hospitality. When you go to an ISA event, you’ll be greeted by all the Execs. It’s hard to get that kind of hospitality elsewhere. I could sit there, and they’ll do all work - they’ll want to come to talk to me and you.

There’s no prereqs to be in ISA. You don’t need to be Indian, you don’t need to know anybody. You will just be greeted with laughter and joy, and we’re gonna have a hell of a time. That’s what’s beautiful about ISA. AK: I feel like all the Exec members in our organization are so open-minded, and we all come from different backgrounds. The Indian diaspora in itself is so diverse, especially here at the University of Oklahoma. We have grad students from India, as well as Indian American students who grew up here in the US. I feel like everyone brings something unique to the table with different perspectives, to where we have that cultural representation since each of us are from different states or religions. And with that open-mindedness, we’re welcoming to all types of individuals in our organization.

MM: Before I start, I want to say something about myself. I was born in India, and I was there for 10 years.

Then, I came to America, so another 10 years that I’m here in America. Half my life, I’ve been here. So with ISA being full of international students and Indian American students, it was a perfect place for me. But more than that, the people here are amazing. They bring that culture, that optimism, so I love my Exec and my members.

And with this passion, how does ISA seek to provide a “home away from home” for its members?

AK: A lot of our members are far away from home, like hundreds or thousands of miles away. They don’t have their family or their friends that they have back home. So, we come together as a community because we are at a PWI institution. Every day, we interact with individuals who don’t look like us, who aren’t the same as us. When we host these events, we come together and we celebrate our culture. We eat food that we would normally eat at home with our family or friends. We would celebrate with our dances. We’d sing songs together. We’d wear our traditional clothes. When we get to do all these things, I think it brings our community together and makes a sense of belonging for each student.

Could you talk about some of the events that ISA hosts?

MM: The biggest event that we do, where we collaborate with SASA, is called Garba Night. it’s a traditional Gujarati holiday.

AK: It celebrates the deity of fertility. Typically, people dance in circular formations, because it’s praise of the deity. It’s a special way of celebrating not just in Hindu culture, but it’s celebrated widely across India as well. We’re able to make that experience for the Gujarati students or just Indian students who want to celebrate with their friends. There would be no Garba Night, if not for ISA and SASA. We also held Diwali Night, which is the festival of lights. It celebrates the overcoming of good over evil, of knowledge over ignorance. Usually, people celebrate with fireworks, but we can’t really do that here because it’s a fire hazard. What we do are performances like dancing, singing, and a fashion show, followed by a three-course buffet of Indian food. It’s not every day that you’re going to be able to see a bunch of Indian dance teams perform, or Hindi songs being sung in Meacham Auditorium, or traditional Indian kurtas and sarees. You don’t typically see those on campus, but we get to bring that out for Diwali Night.

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AK: Finally, we have Holi, which is the Festival of Colors where we’d throw colored powder at each other. That’s a really fun experience. Because in India, everyone goes out on the streets and they throw color at their neighbors, their friends, their family. It’s just an awesome time to come together and celebrate with each other.

What would be some events that you would hope to have in the future, if there were available resources?

AK: We used to have Indian Night, so if we had more funding and time, we’d probably bring that back. But now, we have Desi Prom, which kind of replaced India Night.

MM: When I was applying for Presidency, one of the main things that I wanted to do was bring back India Night, but not just with India. It would be PSA, SASA, all the South Asians. You would have this one huge celebration at the end of the semester.

AK: One of the limitations that all organizations have is the limitations of the budget that we get from SGA. Whenever we’re booking venues and stuff, it costs money for student organizations to book Meacham Auditorium or the White Forum building. It’s a time thing and it takes a lot of logistics to plan these events, and you have to buy the supplies. There’s a lot of factors that come into play about how many events that we can actually do in a school year.

MM: And sometimes you forget that these Execs, they’re students too. They have to go through schoolwork, then they have to come through with all this organizational work. It’s really hard to maintain that balance to throw these big events. I applaud every Exec and every organization that go through this to support their community. To make sure that their students feel like they belong.

AK: If there were no Execs that helped, then there would be no sense of belonging or community. That’s just the reality of things.

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I’ve heard that some South Asian American students don’t feel like they fall within the term “Asian American,” as some people don’t see them as such. Have you ever experienced that, either as individuals or as an organization?

AK: Back in high school, I attended TALC [The APIDA Leadership Conference], the first ever one, and I was one of two South Asian students. Everyone else was East Asian or Southeast Asian. At first, I didn’t feel that representation, but throughout the year, especially during AAPI Heritage month, we’ve gotten more equitable representation from Asian organizations.

Whenever people use the term “Asian,” they think of East Asia or Southeast Asia, because South Asia is very culturally different compared to its East Asian counterparts. There’s like a different identity when it comes to being South Asian versus East Asian versus Southeast Asian. But I think over the years, we’ve collectively gotten more and more representation.

population is growing - the number of grad students, the number of Indian American students that we get every year. I want people who have Indian heritage to feel a sense of belonging, because everyone does deserve to feel like they belong here. I would love to see more events put on bigger performances. I want to see our auditoriums changing to bigger venues so more people can show up. With ISA, we bring together the Indian community, but I also want people outside of having Indian heritage to come learn about our culture, our heritage, our food, our fashion, our dances, our languages.

Is there anything that we haven’t asked about that you would like to talk about?

EH: I just want to give thanks to ISA and the whole OU community. Just a couple years ago, I was going to transfer, but because of the communities of MSA, ISA, AASA, all the different student organizations, I think I made the right decision to call this place my home. I hope for the future, people are able to say the same.

How do you hope to see ISA evolve in these next few years?

MM: ISA has a strong foundation, right. We are 61, 62 years old. There have been bricks laid for the house, but I think we have laid down more bricks that make the house stronger. Going forward, we want ISA to not just be about India itself. It has to be more about supporting everyone from the community.

EH: I mean, that’s the thing I love about ISA. We’re not just Indians or brown people who’s dancing and making a fool out of ourselves. We’re doing that with the entire community. Just seeing how much we’ve grown already, and if we can just keep growing, that would be more than enough. I would love to come back in 10 years and see the same vibe that I got from when I went to that first Holi event.

AK: I want to see more engagement, and I want to grow our organization. I would say our Indian

AK: You know how people say that Oklahoma has a small-town feel? I feel like we have that at OU for our multicultural organizations. OU ISA has a small-town feel because everyone knows each other in some way, it really feels like a small world. That’s something unique that OU’s multicultural organizations have, in general. They’re ran by really awesome people. I’d say that our Exec team has gone through trials and tribulations. We’ve put blood, sweat, and tears into our events, and I’m so proud of our Exec team. We’ve put in so much work, and we’ve grown so much as an organization. We’ve changed so much stuff this year alone. So if we were to put out a message for everyone to hear on TAPIOKA, I would say that ISA has been here for 60 years and we’ll continue to be here. We’ll continue to create events that bring our Indian community together, and we’ll continue to bring culturally immersive experiences to people at the University of Oklahoma.

TAPIOKA · 51

The Vietnamese Student Association

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Interviewed by Kathie Nguyen Anthony Nguyen Photography Courtesy of VSA

TAPIOKA · 53

Could you all introduce yourselves and what you do in VSA?

And could you introduce VSA as an organization?

KN: My name’s Kyle Nguyen and I’m the President of VSA. Alongside my VP External Grace Lam and my VP Internal Duc Tran, I oversee a majority of the functions and decisions made by the organization regarding E-board meetings, events, funding, and external connections with organizations both on and off campus

KN: VSA is the Vietnamese Student Association. It was in the early 2000s, as an area where Vietnamese students can bond over the fact they’re Vietnamese.

It’s a place to enjoy Vietnamese culture and celebrate Vietnamese events like Tet and the Lunar Moon Festival.

GL: My name is Grace Lam, and I am the Vice President External for VSA. My main responsibility as VPX is to coordinate events with other organizations on campus, as well as maintain communication with an organization called UVSA South. UVSA South is a non-profit with a mission to unite VSAs within Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas to provide networking opportunities, encourage community service and philanthropic projects, and promote Vietnamese culture awareness. I meet with representatives from other partner schools regularly to discuss any upcoming events open to our general body members.

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GL: And as much as it is an organization that connects Vietnamese students, it’s also an organization that teaches non-Vietnamese people about Vietnamese culture. I think that’s one of the most special things about VSA - you don't have to be Viet to be in our org. A lot of people walk away from our org with friends and knowledge about Vietnamese culture.

How does your identity fit into your organization?

KN: If I’m being brutally honest, I don’t really identify myself to a point where I’m like, “This is my identity, I am solely an officer of VSA.”

KN: But it helped me to connect with my culture in a different way. Rather than connecting with my culture through cultural events, it let me attach myself to my family. We have a very big age gap, me and my siblings and cousins. Back then, they used to be members of AASA and VSA, and they also held Exec positions. It let me connect with the family aspect of my culture more. And because of that, I put a heavy emphasis on my Exec and my Family Leaders to emphasize family.

GL: Growing up, I’ve always been pretty confident in my identity as a Vietnamese American at home. We celebrated a lot of Vietnamese holidays, I went to temple growing up, and I can speak Vietnamese. In those ways, I’ve always been reassured in my identity as a Vietnamese American. But coming to college, one of the things that I was afraid would happen was that I would lose that connection to my culture, my language. It was really important to me to find a group of people or some sort of outlet to stay plugged into my culture, and VSA ended up being that organization for me. It’s shaped my college experience for the better, and I wouldn’t be involved in the other things that I’m involved in now if it weren't for VSA. And how did VSA foster a sense of home for you?

KN: So this connects back to my previous answer, where it let me connect with my family. Because of that age gap, I didn’t really have anything in common with them. But ever since I came to college, even before VSA, it made me realize that not everything is about me, in a family sense. Yes, my parents aren’t there for me, but it helped me realize that they’re trying their best to rain me in a way that they know best. It’s their first time being a parent. Even though I have older siblings, I know they’re just trying their best. Because of that, it gave me insight into how to not be more parental, but to be more caring towards those underclassmen - like my interns or my Exec.

For some people, it’s their first year here and this is their first time being away from home. How I see it, their parents are trusting us to take care of them. I want to create that sense of home, so that people feel safe. That’s the most important part.

What are some fond memories that you have formed within VSA? KN: When Grace and I were interns, the first time our intern class hung out with our VPI and our Philanthropy Chair, that was the first time I felt like I had siblings that I could be close with. I know I keep bringing up my family, but we’re not close like other families are. I don’t really talk to my parents, I just say “hi” to them. I don’t text them or call them, and that’s how our family is. The first time we ever hung out, it was weird because a part of me was like, “Is this how it was supposed to feel like, or is it because they’re a group of friends?” We were just eating and hanging out, but it made me realize that this was what being close to people feels like.

GL: I’ll give two different fond memories that I have.

One of them was with my Exec board from my first year.

When it was our first Exec meeting, our Exec board bought us a cake to welcome us. That was really heartwarming, because I’m from Tulsa so I didn’t know many people at OU. Joining VSA and having these people welcome me with open arms was really pivotal to me feeling a sense of belonging. Like, it was “just” a cake, but the symbolism behind that was much greater.

Another fond memory was my first family hangout that I had with Moon Family. It was the first time that I talked intimately with other Vietnamese people, and it was just really fun getting to meet new people.

They were giving me advice on my first year of college, and I didn’t drive at the time, so people were willing to come and pick me up from my dorm. That demonstrated a lot of care and a sense of family to me, and it reassured me that VSA was a place where anyone could belong and be a part of a family.

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How does VSA hope to foster a “home away from home” for its members?

KN: The most generic answer is just making sure members feel welcome - that’s why the Family System exists.

GL: The Family System is a structure intended to better integrate members into VSA. When a member joins, we place them with a group of members that becomes their "Family." Each Family has Family Leaders that engage with their Family and coordinate hangouts. They earn points through various challenges and hangouts and compete with other Families each semester for a cash prize to spend on a hangout. The system allows members to bond and introduces friendly competition along the way.

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KN: If members are just thrown into a large crowd at one time, they get overwhelmed. Normally, there are already cliques formed in that crowd from older members or existing groups that came in from high school. With the Family System, the goal is that members get introduced to a smaller group of people that they get comfortable hanging out with. Over time, they start meeting more people from other families or organizations through the friends that they make in their current family How do you hope to see VSA evolve in these next few years?

KN: My biggest hope is that I want for the Exec to stay as close as they are now. I hope that this reaches members, where it’ll make them really want a position on Exec or to intern or to apply to be Family leaders

KN: A lot of Family Leaders applied because they wanted to be a part of VSA and contribute somehow.

Hopefully, in the future, Exec will be as welcoming - if not more welcoming - to general members and make them feel like they’re included.

GL: I think the biggest way I want to see VSA grow is by creating more opportunities for general members to get involved. We saw a little bit of that for our Lunar Moon Festival, where we created committees.

It was honestly a great way for people who may have not been involved to gain some experience with event planning or other leadership skills. I hope that we can expand that in the future and extend those opportunities for our general members to get involved and strengthen their connection ot VSA. Is there anything that we haven’t asked about that you would like to talk about?

KN: Something I would like to talk about is VSA’s emphasis on tradition. As more and more generations of Vietnamese students are born in America, it seems that our culture and heritage seem to slowly die out in favor of more “American” traditions. This is saddening not only because we lose on important pieces of history, values, and culture that our parents and grandparents experienced, but it also waters down our culture and traditions when they are shown on social media and TV series. Why is it that all American shows always display Asian culture as just mahjong and tiger parents and red everything? Why do American shows just display Asians as these strict, frugal, and loud people with familial duties?

Though, yes, these shows do discuss a couple of important points in Vietnamese culture, there is more to us than just these things I listed, and that is what I hope VSA can teach to students at OU. There is so much beauty, elegance, fun, tragedy, and history to our lineages past tien len or bau cua or li xi.

We may not be able to perfectly replicate the culture of Vietnam itself, but it’s our job to help progress it and keep traditions alive before they become forgotten.

GL: If there's one thing I hope members gain from VSA, it is a chance to experience the connections we have with VSAs from the southern region.

While each partner school hosts a range of external events open to our members, UVSA South itself hosts events like Leadership Summit and Camp Legacy that promote leadership development and allow attendees to foster lifelong friendships.

After attending last year's Leadership Summit, I gained much more confidence in my leadership abilities and built friendships with people I would've never met had it not been for UVSA South. through the workshops and bonding activities, I gained a greater appreciation for my culture and the beauty of the Vietnamese-American experience. I truly cherish the experiences I've had through VSA, and I hope to encourage even more members to seize these opportunities for personal growth and beautiful memories

“We may not be able to perfectly replicate the culture of Vietnam itself, but it’s our job to help progress it and keep traditions alive before they become forgotten.”

TAPIOKA · 57

The Korean Student Association

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Interviewed by Kaella Glenn Anthony Nguyen Photography Courtesy of KSA

TAPIOKA · 59

Could you all introduce yourselves and what you do in KSA? LM: I'm Lilian Murdie, and I am the Vice President External of the Korean Student Association. I mostly deal with the external part of this organization. I do a lot of networking and talking to other organizations and making sure that our collaborations work out properly.

IP: I'm Ian Pei, KSA’s Vice President Internal.

Opposite to Lilian, I've worked with the internal stuff of KSA. Keeping up with the members and the Exec, and planning all the events.

What are some of KSA’s goals as an organization?

IP: Our main goal is spreading and promoting Korean culture on campus to anyone interested. We always say that you don't have to be Korean to join. If you're interested in our culture, then by all means, come and join.

LM: We also try to create a community around us. Not only do we work with the people in KSA, but we also try to do collabs like AASA and other clubs as well. So just creating a sense of community around us because unfortunately, it is not so diverse here. Being able to kind of have each other's back, it's a great feeling.

How did KSA help to foster a home for you?

LM: First and foremost, the thing that I love about KSA is that it helped me find my people. I transferred here my sophomore year of college, and I really didn't know anybody. I feel like once you're at that point, it's kind of hard to make friends unless you join an organization. I came across KSA on Pepero Day when we were selling Pepero. I got to meet everybody, and they were all so sweet.

We’re all super close, and we are even taking a class together this semester. Just being able to have friends that you can hang out with even outside of KSA, that's what I like the most about it.

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IP: I have a similar story. I came to college, and most of my high school friends were going out of state or to OSU. I was the only one here. And so, I found a lot of my friends through KSA. And through them, I met other people in other clubs, like through AASA. I bet it's comforting also to see people like you.

IP: Yeah, exactly. It's really comforting to see that we have similar cultural backgrounds. Back in my hometown, there weren’t many Koreans in my school, so I didn't have a lot of Korean friends. But coming here, a lot of my Korean friends grew up so similarly, like culturally. It’s just really, really cool to see that, and it’s just fun to hang out.

LM: It is silly because at my high school as well, there were only two other Korean students. But here, now that I'm in KSA, I can talk about the funny things my mom did when I was growing up. And they're like, “Oh, I can relate to that.” But if you're talking to a white student or something like that, they're like, “No, I don't know that.”

What sort of events have you been excited to be able to share?

LM: My favorite event that we've done thus far is Chuseok Night, which is Korean Thanksgiving. It's usually done at the end of August or at the beginning of September, and it signals that it's the end of the season. It's a way to bring everybody together. And on Chuseok Night, a lot of our events are based off of food, and we wanted to do something that was more like bringing everybody together through a sense of community. And so for our Chuseok Night this semester, we did a Chuseok candy game night and we did a lot of Korean games that elementary students play in Korea.

IP: Last year, I liked barbecue night because we all just hung out, ate food, and just talked. It’s like a little feast thing was going on. Just hanging out and eating with your friends. So, I thought that was pretty good. We got closer, and I got to meet a lot of new people there too.

I know you talked about food being a way to create a sense of home for everyone. What sort of dishes remind you of home?

LM: My favorite dish is Sundubu which is a soft tofu soup. It's usually spicy and it has, obviously, tofu.

Then it comes with a little egg that is soft-boiled.

And usually, there's like onions and zucchini in it. I love soft tofu soup. But ever since I was young, I really liked soft-boiled eggs. So, my mom always puts a soft-boiled egg in soups and even in my ramen. Whenever I have soft tofu soup, I think about my mom and just Korea, because my grandma is really good at making soft tofu soup.

IP: There's a dish called Bulgogi. It's basically just like Korean marinated beef. I grew up eating that all the time. And so, every time I go to a restaurant that has it, I always order it and it just totally reminds me of home.

KSA underwent a significant period of inactivity, before being revived very recently. What influenced this revival and rapid growth of KSA? LM: Lily [the current KSA President] and I have had a brief conversation about this. But I think it was just not having a sense of community and a sense of home. And they had known the presidents in the past, but Youngjun [a former KSA President] really pushed and was like, “We really should get this back up and going, so that people that are Korean here actually do have a sense of home.” Because we do have a lot of international Korean students that come in as well.

I think it was just really hard for everybody to acclimate properly because a lot of people, when they come to college, look for an organization that they can be a part of and not be a minority in. Not having that was something that bothered both Lily and Youngjun, so they decided to build KSA back up to where it is now.

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You mentioned international Korean students.

What sort of struggles do these students go through in America, in terms of adjusting to this new culture? Of both being in America and not having as big of a Korean community as they might have had before?

LM: The nice thing about international students is that a lot of them come from the same colleges in Korea, so they do have each other. But, they have mentioned that it is a very big struggle to get acclimated once they are in the United States, especially in regard to finding other friends. A lot of them stay closed off, which is something that some of them don't want to do. And because of that, being able to provide events that they can be a part of, I think, really does help them. I have received comments from some of the international students about it. They appreciate being able to be a part of the community here in the United States, even if it's only for a brief period of time.

For your OU members, how has it helped having international students around?

LM: I think it's a good resource to have. It’s mutually beneficial for both international students and KSA members, because we're able to talk to them about events that can be more tailored toward them. We try to make sure that we're inclusive with everybody. But at the end of the day, it is a Korean Student Association and we do want to tailor mostly towards our Korean students. We ask for their input and how they feel about stuff. And they tell us like, “Oh, like there could be improvements on this,” or something like that. It is really helpful, especially for our future events. Sometimes, you receive input from the international students about what they liked and what they didn't like about the event. That helps prep us for the upcoming years when we're not able to help our future Execs.

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What are some problems that you've experienced as Korean Americans in Oklahoma, where there are not a lot of Korean communities or resources?

IP: Well, the only Korean communities here in Oklahoma would be church. Koreans are like Christians basically, so there are a lot of churches here in Oklahoma. That's the main place where I found Korean communities at home, but other than that, there're not many Korean restaurants or markets or anything [in my hometown].

LM: I agree. It's just, the only [Korean] community that I found outside of OU KSA is through my Catholic Church. But it's very small and it is a little cliquey. I do not like being a part of that. And with KSA, it's not as cliquey - it's actually not cliquey at all. We love each other. But yeah, I think that honestly is the only time that I've found community.

I'm not going to lie, sometimes people are a little bit racist here.

Could you talk more about those specific experiences? Were they with stereotypes or Korean fetishization?

LM: Now, people have been using microaggressions as a form of racism. They are a little bit more aggressive towards Asians. Also, a lot of Asians do not get the support that others do, especially in schools. Teachers will be like, “You should be fine doing this because you're Asian,” and that's that.

That's the stereotype. And yes, it's positive like, “Oh, you're smart,” but it's not really positive when you need help. I have noticed that a little bit more here, just very subtle racism, but also there have been other situations where people have been just straight-up racist, and they honestly don't even realize what they're doing. Ignorance.

I had an incident where someone was like, “Oh, you're glowing.” I was like, “I'm not glowing. I don't get Asian glow.” And they responded, “Oh, you just can't see it. Get it? Because you can't see.” It's just not funny, and that's uncomfortable. I just looked around and thought, “Did you guys just witness what just happened?” And they're like, “It's fine, they’re just joking.” Like it was not a big deal. And I feel like people don't take the racism as seriously.

Not only that, but in the past, I have tried to talk to guys here, and a lot of them do have Asian fetishes.

Like this one guy, the more I got to know him, the weirder it got. But he was like, “Oh, yeah, all of my ex-girlfriends are actually half Korean half white, just like you.” So just a lot of stuff like that.

I do think it's out of ignorance. The only thing that I feel like we can do as a community is to inform them that the stuff they do is racist.

How do you hope to see KSA evolve in these next few years?

IP: I just want to KSA gain more traction. Like just more popularity and just being able to spread Korean culture more easily on campus.

I feel like our audience is pretty large compared to maybe five years ago when KSA was inactive. We're doing a good job so far. Like, we're like slowly growing up there, you know. Making a headline.

But like, yeah, when I'm graduating, I want to see KSA have more members, maybe more events, more funding from SGA, and all that stuff.

LM: I want more people to be aware of KSA. We have been trying to do a lot to make sure that people are more aware of it. Ian recently went down to TALC and boothed there. Whenever we are boothing, a lot of people are like, “Oh, I'm not Korean.” And we tell them, “You don't have to be Korean to join. If you just want to know more about Korean culture, you can join.”

Down the line. I want to hear more about KSA. To have more people in it, especially since there are some Korean people that are not in KSA. It’s hard to please everybody all the time, but in the future, I want to look back and say, “Yes, it was a great time for us.”

I think the most important thing that we've done, that we are both very proud of, is that we have been able to create a sense of community. Not only for ourselves but for the people around us.

TAPIOKA · 63

Interviewed by Kathie Nguyen Anthony Nguyen Photography Courtesy of IAC

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The International Advisory Committee

TAPIOKA · 65

Could you all introduce yourselves and what you do in IAC? SN: My name is Silma Nurfadhilah. I’m an international student from Indonesia, and in IAC, I am the Creative Chair.

AM: My name is Arine Mkhitaryan, and I’m from Armenia. I am the Public Relations Chair of IAC, so I do all of our media.

Could you briefly introduce IAC for us?

AM: IAC is the umbrella organization of all international organizations here at OU. You know how there are organizations like the India Student Association and the Vietnamese Student Association? All of those organizations fall under us.

Well, not under us exactly, but we're helping them to find community within the international and multicultural people here are OU. We are super fun and like organizing events.

SN: We also supervise international students because we work closely with International Student Services.

AM: We’re trying to bring out the voice of international students here. To emphasize that, “Hey, we're here and we have a voice too.” If I'm not mistaken, there are more than 2000 [international students at OU], for sure. Around 3000?

What are some goals of IAC as an organization?

AM: We are trying to empower the international communities here. I asked a lot of the presidents of the international organizations that are in IAC, “What do you think IAC does for you?” And I think they started from like, very practical answers, like, “IAC helps us to the budget stuff with SGA,” to “It helps us to actually connect with people who share similar backgrounds on how we appear in the US and what are we trying to do with our voices.”

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SN: We're trying to advocate also because in the US, people have a hard time understanding the difference between international people who have residency in the US, and international students who don't have residency and are just here for college.

That's a big distinction that a lot of Americans don't really understand. We're trying to say, “Hey, we're on F-1 Visa. We don't have all the privileges that someone who has residency here could have.” That’s the distinction we're trying to emphasize.

AM: IAC could also be the first place where international students may want to contribute to the college, but don't know where to start. They feel like they don't belong here or like they must fit in the society here – especially because of culture differences. I feel like that's a big mission of IAC. To give international students a platform and a voice.

How did IAC create a sense of home for you?

AM: Personally? I think it's individual connections within the organization. We're all friends and we all do things together. I know that if I have a problem, I can just go to any of the people in the organization and they will listen. They will try to support me. We also all understand that this is voluntary basis. We do it with passion, not just because we have to do it.

That makes it better.

SN: I feel for me, IAC is the first organization that I'm going to go to, because I feel like I don’t fit into other organizations. Not because I’m really scared, but I just feel kind of awkward, you know? Because I’m not sure where to start or how to interact with all of these different cultures. With the people in IAC, I feel like I don't need to start building that first level of understanding because we're international students. Because it's like a shared experience.

How does your identity fit into your organization?

AM: The moment I came to the U.S., I had a huge identity crisis. People would ask me, “What’s your new state, what’s your ethnicity?” I didn’t know what to answer because I know my country and my nationality, but it’s not a big factor back home. IAC is nice because it’s not ethnicity-based but nationality-based. You feel better because you’re not put into a box.

Is this struggle for identity common among international students?

AM: Yes. At home, we have an idea about different cultures and different political systems. When we come here, they want to put you in a box, but you don’t fit in.

A while back, Erik [the AASA Creative Director] mentioned, “You’re Asian” for “APIDA-MENA.” That was the first time [I had heard that], since not even Asians think I’m Asian and Europeans don’t think I’m European. So, I’m like, “What am I?”

SN: Here, I’m not American, but when I go back home, I don’t feel like I grew up together with my family. For example, I already grew apart with my international experience. I’m not up to date with my country’s news, and here, I don’t know much about anything. So, I don’t know, “What am I?” That’s the identity crisis for me.

SN: That’s a big thing. It’s not that we don’t think about it, but it’s not really discussed back home.

With that in mind, how does IAC foster a home away from home for the international community?

AM: And people don’t believe me when I tell them that back home, it’s not that important. Everyone has a similar background, so you’re not questioned.

SN: As an organization, one of the biggest parts is organizing events, like cultural events. I think that's a big part of it.

TAPIOKA · 67

AM: We also support each other by going to each other's events and experiencing each other's cultures. Everybody supports everybody's diversity.

We want to celebrate that diversity here. I think that's what makes people feel like they’re at home.

They know they can be the way they are and that is going to be celebrated.

SN: Yeah, More than that, we also do discussions regarding events that happen around the world. If you see our Instagram, we post live statements. I feel like we want to make a platform where we see you.

What are some of the other struggles that international students go through, that we may not be aware of?

AM: Our frustration level was at its peak when the SGA candidates came to campaign at our GBM. We asked them about what solutions they had for international students, and they said, “Oh, we’re thinking of cooperating with the government to make work-study better for you.” We can’t do workstudy because we don’t have residency. Even though we’re being informed about what’s happening around us, we can’t really change much because we don’t have the right to vote.

There are also international students who also have monetary issues, since it’s very hard to change currency from your home country to here. It’s a big difference, so there’s the monetary struggle.

Thirdly, the student organizations here are very U.S.-oriented or Oklahoma-oriented, so you feel left out. You’re like, “I wasn’t raised here, I didn’t grow up here, I’m only here for two years so I don’t know how much I can contribute to the issues that you’re bringing up.”

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SN: Some people have a visa, like me, I have a fiveyear student visa. After I graduate, I have to get a job to extend this visa, but some people don’t have that privilege. They have to reapply and if they don’t get that visa or get work, they get kicked out.

As a multicultural and international student organization, how does IAC encompass all these different cultures and countries into one organization?

AM: For our bigger events, we want to give a platform to everyone. The first one is the International Bazaar, where specific organizations represent their culture and have a platform to fundraise. All of these organizations gather together to appreciate each other, and it works very well. The second one is the Gala, which is like a prom. We want everybody to experience the American prom, but it’s also a way to bring out international music and let people dance to their music.

SN: And in the spring, we have the International Royalty Pageant. It’s nice to have that international student representation and to help their platforms impact the student body.

AN: We also have the Eve of Nations, which is the biggest multicultural event here in Oklahoma. We have a big stage, and everybody is given the opportunity to contribute in any way. We have added new things like a fashion show and guest performers. Everybody has that platform to represent themselves. We have food, we have music, we have every aspect of culture represented at Eve of Nations.

What would be some events that you would hope to have in the future, if there were available resources?

AM: I have several answers that come to mind. First, it’s so silly, but a field trip to the World Cup Final.

We would do that because I feel like it’s the thing distinguishes international students – “football” versus “soccer.”

Sometimes, international students are being used for advertisements, like, “Oh, we’re really into DEI at this university.” I wish that I could see OU work to actually provide international students with what they need.

SN: I remember when we had the World Cup, everybody was watching it. Many organizations were screening it and watching football – oh, soccer.

AM: We emphasize the idea of representation and amplifying voices, but sometimes, it becomes kind of like, “We’re so diverse.” Every time IAC tables, they come to take a video of all the flags we have, and that’s it. Also, there are a lot of students from other countries who are never empowered enough to open up their organizations and create a “home away from home” for themselves. I would like for us to empower other people and other groups to establish their own organization and become a part of IAC.

How do you hope to see IAC evolve in these next few years?

SN: I wish IAC would not only be used for representing international students, but also representing international students’ interests. I think that’s a really big difference.

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In Defense of D.E.I. Written by Anthony Nguyen

On December 13, 2023, Governor Kevin Stitt signed an Executive Order that will prohibit the funding or support for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs.

Although Stitt claims that this will shift the focus of Oklahoma’s higher education institutions toward becoming merit-based, this Executive Order will do the opposite.

The purpose of DEI programs is to nurture an environment where all students have equal opportunities for success and inclusion, no matter their background. These efforts actively foster unity within our minority and marginalized communities on campus, beyond what we (and they) see on a day-to-day basis.

To silence such initiatives is to go against the very tenets that we of TAPIOKA Magazine stand for. Alongside House Bill 1775, this Executive Order disproportionally harms gender-diverse students and students of color, without properly understanding what DEI hopes to accomplish.

Our education system is in dire need of systemic and structural reform, but this Executive Order is a step in the opposite direction. We urge you all to vote in your local elections, as civil engagement is needed for us to make a meaningful impact within our community.

In the meantime, Oklahoma, for our sake, do better.

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