AAA Celebrates Tenth Anniversary

The Asian-American Association (AAA) yesterday kicked off a three-day extravaganza including symposia, movies, and a black-tie dance intended to boost awareness of Asian-Americans at Harvard, organizers said.

At last night's reception honoring AAA's tenth anniversary, students and alumni had the opportunity "to assess past performance, define present-day objectives and identify the goals for the future," said John Kim '87, co-president of AAA.

Other weekend activities will include a creative black-tie dance, an outdoor party, and several showings of the movie "A Great Wall," said John S. Kuo '89, AAA co-president.

Some AAA members feel the events are needed to dispel a few negative attitudes held by the Administration and members of the Harvard community towards Asian-Americans.

This afternoon's symposia in Boylston Hall will focus on the history of Asian-Americans at Harvard and the lack of courses in Asian-American studies, said Mark H. Kuo '90, who coordinated one of the symposia.

Several AAA members said they were disappointed with the University administrators' failure to respond favorably to their requests to offer courses in Asian-American Studies.

"It has always been a real challenge every year for the students to convince the Administration that Asian-American Studies is a legitimate field of study," Mark Kuo said.

AAA members said that one of their goals will be to dispel misconceptions about the role of Asian-Americans in United States' history.

"Many people think they know all about Asians by taking Rice Paddies or East Asian courses, but they are not aware of the history of the large immigration of Asians since 1950 to the United States as a part of history," John Kuo said.

"One of the objectives of AAA is to show that Asian-Americans have had a history and culture throughout American society," said Margaret Chin' 84, a past president of AAA.

Besides the symposia, the AAA is sponsoring a Memorial Hall dance tonight and several showings of the movie "A Great Wall," a comedy about the culture shock experienced by an Asian-American family visiting relatives in China, Kim said.

The celebration will conclude with an outdoor barbecue held in the Fly Club Garden featuring the band Quest For Vision, Kim said.