Even over the past 10 years, one can see a steady increase of Asian American undergraduate students at UConn.
Asian Americans have a long and rich history at the University of Connecticut, according to Adam Walsh, a staff member of the Asian American Cultural Center. At the center, a beautiful story board depicts the history in its full glory. In 1910, the first Asian graduated from UConn.
In 1943, 10 Japanese students were admitted to UConn — a commonplace event now, but back then it was revolutionary. At the time, there was much debate and resistance towards letting Japanese into American universities due to wartime controversies. It was kind of a two edged sword, according to Walsh. How would Americans react to the Japanese? And how would the Japanese react to Americans? UConn was one of the first universities to admit the Japanese, and faced no issues, no conflicts, and even had some of them on its baseball and football teams.
The Asian American Cultural Center was established in 1993, and keeps Asian American culture and heritage alive through many different events, including different showcases, the extremely popular speaker series, (with acts including Kal Penn of Harold and Kumar and George Takei of Star Trek) and the center’s participation in UConn-wide events such as Lip Synch and Huskython.
The proliferation of Asian American students does not come as a surprise to Walsh or his co-worker Gregory Chun. The Cultural Center is a strong reflection of it; it can face traffic of more than a hundred students on a day with no classes.
“Asian culture is preserved here. Our roots are important. Yes, Asian Americans are Americans but there’s a greater history and culture that is distinct. This is a safe haven. It is a place of non-exclusion. It is an inclusive community.” — Adam Walsh on the Asian American Cultural Center
See the full infographic here.