UTC Asian Student Association Prepares to Celebrate Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Next month is Asian and Pacific Islander Awareness month, and UTC is lucky to have a growing Asian Student Association on campus. While campus is closed for most of May, there are still a number of events for students to look forward to next semester hosted by the ASA. 

So what is ASA? 

“We’re a student-run on-campus organization,” explained ASA’s PR and social media Manager, Emma Trubey. “We have faculty advisors but most of everything we do is run by students.”

While ASA said they would love to put on specific celebrations for the month of May, they said they are limited by the timeframe of when classes are in session and coinciding with finals week. 

“The University sometimes puts on a little kick-off event, we were at that, just to show that there is an Asian student association on campus” Trubey said. 

This year the kick-off took place in the lobby of Lupton Hall. 

As for other events during the year, the club used food as a fun way to get the group together. 

“We had DIY sushi rolls,” said secretary Allysa Esguerra, who came up with the idea as a new activity. “I think it's the first time we did it.” 

Club activities are important for ASA in getting people involved.

“I feel like since we’re a student organization, it's really just about exposure,” says Trubey, “Just hanging out and getting to know people in a setting where you can do culturally diverse stuff, it does a lot more than people may think.” 

The group also points to getting out of your comfort zone as a great way to build connections and have some fun. 

“ We want to start collabing more with other groups. There’s a Muslim student association on campus and there's the new chapter of Delta Phi Lambda, which is an Asian interest sorority,” Trubey said.  “It will be easier to put on big events with more people pitching in.” 

Fall is the main season ASA hosts events, coinciding with the Lunar New Year and other Asian holidays. Last year there was a different student executive board, but the group hopes to carry out some of the same activities in the coming fall semester. 

“They hosted a fall festival to kind of celebrate and respect different fall holidays that are around that time in different Asian cultures” Trubey describes. 

Part of this celebration included signs posted around campus. “They had poster boards that had information about those events and people dressed up, and there was a lot of food,” Trubey said.

ASA’s events are open to all UTC students. Those interested in meeting new people and maybe trying some own homemade sushi should check out the Instagram, @utc.asa.