Asian Students Gather for Conference

About 120 students from universities all over the East Coast gathered in the Science Center this weekend for the Fifth Annual Asian-American Empowerment Conference.

Speakers at the three-day conference, which was sponsored by Harvard's Asian American Association, discussed such topics as the role of Asian-Americans in politics, Asian identity and affirmative action.

Charles Wong, a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, said Asian-Americans must work for greater representation in government, including Congress.

"Civil rights issues have forced Asian-Americans in the 1990s to reevaluate their position in politics," Wong said.

And Jeff Yang, editor-in-chief of the Asian-American quarterly A, criticized some Asian-American authors for propagating stereotypes of Asian-Americans.

In particular, Yang singled out for criticism Amy Tan, author of the popular Joy Luck Club, and Maxine Hong Kingston, who wrote Woman Warrior.

The goal of the conference was to "educate students on Asian-American issues and to provide a forum for discussion," said Paul Kim '96, the conference's chair.

Students said they attended the conference to gain a new understanding of their Asian heritage and to find out more about the status of Asian-Americans in today's society.

"[I came] in order to gain a better outlook on the political aspect of Asian-American life, and I hope that this conference will stick to what it said it was about," said Phelana W. Pang, a Duke University first-year.

Students also participated in several hour-long workshops to discuss issues raised by the speeches.

"I especially liked the discussions offered at the conference because it brought out new things from me that I never thought about before," said Chih Sien Lee, a first-year student at Montrassat College of Art.

After the closing remarks yesterday, many students praised the conference and said they plan to return next year.

"I think the conference really fulfilled its goals and helped us find our Asian-American identity," said University of Pennsylvania sophomore Tina Chinaham.

Organizers said they were disappointed that only ten out of the 133 registered conference participants were from Harvard.

"I'm really disappointed that many more Harvard Asian-Americans did not come," said Jennifer Tye '97, a member of the Asian American Association's administrative committee.