’s Asian Pacific Islander Student Union Opens Conversation on the Challenges Immigrants and their Families Face

Apr 12, 2023
A group of students gathered at a table speaking.

On Monday, April 10, 2023 Dr. Brian Chen, Associate Professor in the Department of English, and a representative body of students gathered to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage (AAPI) month by engaging in conversation surrounding the histories of shared Asian and Pacific Islander heritage. The group shared their unique experiences as first and second-generation children of immigrants in an effort to promote awareness of these stories so that allies to the community can “recognize their existences and understand their spirits.”

“This is a really important event,” Dr. Brian Chen began, addressing the students at his sides. “People can be better educated … so that refugees are no longer [a] taboo people.”

Dr. Brian Chen and students from the APISU smiling.

Audience members learned about a number of topics, including motivations for migrating and the subsequent journey afterwards or what a family’s hope or dream might look like in America versus the reality experienced. The discussion was followed by a thoughtful roun