AAA Leaders Upset Over Representation

Leaders of Asian-American organizations met yesterday with Assistant Dean of Students Ellen Hatfield Towne to protest that events scheduled for Junior Parents Weekend failed to represent Asian American students.

Asian students said they were angry that no Asian American student was initially asked to talk in any of the three panel discussions this weekend, including one on diversity. The panels include campus Black students, Jews and Hispanics.

At the hastily called meeting, members of the student committee that organized the weekend agreed to invite Daniel H. Choi '94 to speak at a panel on "Expanding the Academic Perspective."

Choi, the editor-in chief of Yisei, an editor of The Crimson, and a staff writer for The Harvard Salient, has written on ethnic studies.

"I don't think that anyone can adequately represent the views of Asian-Americans," Choi said. "I guess I'll just try to my best job. But I'm not going to try to be their spokesperson."

In a terse letter to the editors that was the only statement junior parents weekend organizers would issue yesterday, the organizers said the "regrettable situation was unintended."

"It is troubling when miscommunication occurs and when we hurt or offend one another. It is always important to talk things out," the letter read.

Mark H. Kim '94, former president of the Asian American Association (AAA), said, "My main concern is that these panels are supposed to represent what it's like to be at Harvard."

"The fact remains that with 20 percent of Asians in the community, [Asian Americans] are an integral part of Harvard," Kim said.

Stephen C. Chang '94, president of lien magazine, said he understood that all 275 student organizations cannot be represented in the panels. But Chang said Asian-Americans make up a significant minority of the students.

"To completely omit Asians, you are leaving a gap--a vacuum to a group of students that is not only embarrassing to us, but also to the university," said Chang.

Although members of the different Asian-American organizations said they appreciated the committee for meeting with them and inviting Choi to speak, some leaders said they still felt dissatisfied.

"They didn't really solve our problem--the important part. What they did was put someone on the panel to appease us," said Peggy H. Nguyen '93, secretary of the Harvard Vietnamese Association. "But they never admitted to the oversight," she said.

Junior parents weekend, which begins today, is expected to draw hundreds of parents to Cambridge for two days of discussions and receptions.

What follows is the text of a letter to the editors from the organizers of junior parents weekend:

To the editors:

Today marks the first day of junior parents weekend. A committee of juniors from each of the houses has been meeting on a weekly basis since October to construct a stimulating program for parents. We discussed, we debated, and drawing on the breadth of experience and background of our members, we finally arrived at the printed program of events.

The overriding theme that emerged was dialogue and diversity and related complexities. To this end, the weekend includes significant participation by students, faculty and administrators.

Wednesday evening and Thursday, members of several Asian organizations--including, among others, the Asian American Association (AAA), the Chinese Students Association and the Vietnamese Students Association--expressed considerable concern over a lack of Asian student representation on our panels. This regrettable situation was unintended, and members of our committee met with representatives of AAA to discuss it yesterday. The consensus that emerged was to invite Dan Choi '94 to join the panel on "Broadening the Academic Perspective."

It is troubling when miscommunication occurs and when we hurt or offend one another. It is always important to talk things out.

Please join us for Junior Parents Weekend.  Sincerely yours,  Ted Berk '94  Lynn Burke '94  Nirav Shah '94  Julie Wolfson '94  Ellen Hatfield Towne, Director,  Harvard-Radcliffe  Parents Association.

"The fact remains that with 20 percent of Asians in the community, [Asian Americans] are an integral part of Harvard," Kim said.

Stephen C. Chang '94, president of lien magazine, said he understood that all 275 student organizations cannot be represented in the panels. But Chang said Asian-Americans make up a significant minority of the students.

"To completely omit Asians, you are leaving a gap--a vacuum to a group of students that is not only embarrassing to us, but also to the university," said Chang.

Although members of the different Asian-American organizations said they appreciated the committee for meeting with them and inviting Choi to speak, some leaders said they still felt dissatisfied.

"They didn't really solve our problem--the important part. What they did was put someone on the panel to appease us," said Peggy H. Nguyen '93, secretary of the Harvard Vietnamese Association. "But they never admitted to the oversight," she said.

Junior parents weekend, which begins today, is expected to draw hundreds of parents to Cambridge for two days of discussions and receptions.

What follows is the text of a letter to the editors from the organizers of junior parents weekend:

To the editors:

Today marks the first day of junior parents weekend. A committee of juniors from each of the houses has been meeting on a weekly basis since October to construct a stimulating program for parents. We discussed, we debated, and drawing on the breadth of experience and background of our members, we finally arrived at the printed program of events.

The overriding theme that emerged was dialogue and diversity and related complexities. To this end, the weekend includes significant participation by students, faculty and administrators.

Wednesday evening and Thursday, members of several Asian organizations--including, among others, the Asian American Association (AAA), the Chinese Students Association and the Vietnamese Students Association--expressed considerable concern over a lack of Asian student representation on our panels. This regrettable situation was unintended, and members of our committee met with representatives of AAA to discuss it yesterday. The consensus that emerged was to invite Dan Choi '94 to join the panel on "Broadening the Academic Perspective."

It is troubling when miscommunication occurs and when we hurt or offend one another. It is always important to talk things out.

Please join us for Junior Parents Weekend.  Sincerely yours,  Ted Berk '94  Lynn Burke '94  Nirav Shah '94  Julie Wolfson '94  Ellen Hatfield Towne, Director,  Harvard-Radcliffe  Parents Association.