Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month 2021
Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month began as a heritage week in the legislature in 1977 with joint resolutions from both Representative Frank Horton and Senator Daniel Inouye. In 1992, Congress declared Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. At Oklahoma State University, we honor the holiday in April so that finals and summer do not interfere with the celebrations.
Schedule of Events
Below is a comprehensive list of events, programs and meetings in honor of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. The University community is encouraged to send programs to be included on this list to oma@okstate.edu. The list will be updated as more information is made available.
The Asian American Student Association (AASA, @aasa.okstate), Japanese Student Association (JSA, @oklahomastate_jsa), VASA (Vietnamese American Student Association, @okstate.vasa), and the Office of Multicultural Affairs (@omaokstate) will host myriad events and discussions on Instagram. All live streamed events can be accessed on the homepage of OState TV. Programs hosted via Zoom will be directly linked below.
Japanese Student Association
Japanese Student Association (JSA) invites you to the celebration of the heritage and culture of Japan from Monday, March 29 to Friday, April 2, 2021. There will be games, activities, and videos virtually and in person outside of Classroom Building, on the International Lawn, and on Instagram (@oklahomastate_jsa).
AASA Executive Board Election
Asian American Student Association
Asian American Student Association (AASA) welcomes support and encouragement of alumni as we host the annual Executive Board Election for the academic year 2021-2022. Candidates will provide speeches. Interact with the AASA Executive Board online via Zoom and social media (Instagram @aasa.okstate).
Meeting ID:
970 3374 2582
APA Heritage Month Virtual Celebration
College of Engineering, Architecture, and Technology (CEAT) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The CEAT Diversity, Equity and Inclusion office will be featuring the Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month virtually via their online platforms: Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Be sure to follow along at @ceatinclusion.
Dance on the Green
Department of Theater and Dance
The Department of Theater Dance presents the spring concernt "Dance on the Green" celebrating the dance artists at OSU, including performers of contemporary, ballet, bachata, bharatanatyam, odissi, hip hop, and tango. The performers include Asian American students.
APA Heritage Month Speaker Series:
Diversity - Taking It Beyond Food and Festivals
Office of Multicultural Affairs
In the session, Diversity: Taking It Beyond Food and Festivals, the speaker, Ms. Catherine Vijayakumar, will present the intertwining section and stigmatization of multicultural understanding. Ms. Vijayakumar worked in the Office of Multicultural Affairs at OSU as the first Asian American Coordinator from 2002 to 2016. She has a Master’s degree in Education from the Oklahoma State University. Prior to her arrival to the United States, she served as a headmistress of an elementary school in India. In addition to advising student organizations, Ms. Vijayakumar also co-founded the Asian American Faculty & Staff Association and OSU-Asian Alumni Association. She believes that multicultural understanding stems from the virtue of nurturing diversity. She has been inducted into the OSU Diversity Hall of Fame in 2019.
Meeting ID:
991 8194 1061
VASA Flag Discussion
Vietnamese American Student Association
Join Vietnamese American Student Association (VASA) to reflect on the history of Vietnamese flags. The speakers are experienced leaders in the community that represent the old and new flags.
Meeting ID:
955 8929 8870
AAFSA Virtual Community Room Meeting:
Open, Connect, & Support
Asian American Faculty & Staff Association
Please join the Asian American Faculty and Staff Association to discuss your concerns on the recent violence against the Asian community. The two sessions of AAFSA Virtual Community Room Meetings are open 11:00 AM - noon on Friday, April 9 and noon-1:00 PM on Friday, April 16. Both meetings will start with virtual a 10 min candlelight vigil.
Meeting ID:
986 8347 3528
APA Heritage Month Speaker Series:
Bharatanatyam: A Living Dance
Department of Theater and Dance, Office of Multicultural Affairs
This APA Heritage Month Speaker Series: Bharatanatyam: A Living Dance will be presented by Director Emma Draves, the Director of Dance in the Department of Theater & Dance. The speaker will share her non-lineage practitioner’s experience in Bharatanatyam, a South Indian dance. Director Draves is a dance artist and educator navigating intertextual spaces of identity. Drawing from trainings in modern, bharatanatyam, ballet, jazz, and ethnography, to weave work of kinesthetic narrative derived through colliding multiplicities of physical effort, idiosyncrasy, and emotional landscape. Director Draves holds a Graduate Laban Certificate in Movement Analysis from Columbia College Chicago and an MFA from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her work has been shown internationally in Edinburgh, Scotland and Vancouver, BC as well as at New York University, Danceworks Company (WI), Hamlin Park, High Concept Labs, Links Hall, Chicago Cultural Center, Columbia College Chicago, Comfort Station, and Harold Washington Library Theatre. Trained in bharatanatyam under Guru Hema Rajagopalan, Director Draves has enjoyed participating in several national tours and international collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma & Silk Road Project, NanJombang (Indonesia), and Astad Deboo (India) - grant-writer and archivist.
Meeting ID:
953 6606 3920
2021 Miss Asian OSU Scholarship Pageant
Asian American Student Association, Office of Multicultural Affairs
Join AASA live on OState.TV to celebrate Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month as AASA and Office of Multicultural host the annual Miss Asian OSU Scholarship Pageant. Live voting for a winner of People’s Choice Award will be open to viewers. The mission of the Mr. & Miss Asian OSU Scholarship Pageant is to further develop the leadership, confidence and creativity of Asian students on the OSU campus. Mr. & Miss Asian will positively advance the aims and objectives of the Asian American Student Association and will represent Oklahoma State University and the Asian community as role models and spokespersons.
APA Heritage Month Speaker Series:
My Study Abroad in Asia
Study Abroad and National Student Exchange
Study Abroad Ambassadors present on their international experiences in Asia. The Ambassadors presenting have both studied abroad in Japan at Shinshu University and Kansai Gaidai University for an academic year. OSU partners with over 55 international partners around the world. Search programs by your academic major at abroad.okstate.edu.
Zoom ID:
915 7813 8097
VASA Executive Board Election
Vietnamese American Student Association
Vietnamese American Student Association (VASA) welcomes support and encouragement of alumni, faculty, and staff as we host the annual Executive Board Election. Interact with the VASA Executive Board online on their social media.
APA Heritage Month Speaker Series:
Stop Asian Hate: Everyday Obstacles and Step Stones Towards Healing
Office of Multicultural Affairs
The panel, Stop Asian Hate: Everyday Obstacles and Step Stones Towards Healing, will focus on the historical trails of bamboo ceiling leading up to recent events of anti-Asian American violence and look onward toward the achievement and union of Asian American community. The panelist, Mr. Lawrence Richardson, Lawrence Richardson is the clinical recruiter at Grand Lake Mental Health. He has also been a counsellor at Grand Lake Mental Health as well as an instructor on Asian American cultures. He advocates for Asian and Asian American individuals to empower themselves by taking a stand against hatred and discrimination and using their voices to come together and fight oppression. The panelist, Marcia Sun, was the Coordinator of Asian American Affairs and recipient of the 2017 OKTESOL award.
AAFSA Virtual Community Room Meeting:
Open, Connect, & Support
Asian American Faculty & Staff Association
Please join the Asian American Faculty and Staff Association to discuss your concerns on the recent violence against the Asian community. The two sessions of AAFSA Virtual Community Room Meetings are open 11:00 AM - noon on Friday, April 9 and noon-1:00 PM on Friday, April 16. Both meetings will start with virtual a 10 min candlelight vigil.
Meeting ID:
986 8347 3528
6th Annual Spring Forum Conference in TESOL, Linguistics, and Applied Linguistics Language Learning and Teaching: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access
TESLing Student Association
TESLing Spring Forum, April 17th, 8am -5pm, virtual. The 6th Annual Spring Forum in TESOL, Linguistics, and Applied Linguistics will take place as an online conference on April 17th, 2021. The conference theme is Language Learning and Teaching: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access . This conference is designed to give TESL and Applied Linguistics researchers, teachers, and graduate students a chance to present their original research and classroom ideas.
Asian/Pacific Awareness Expo
Office of Multicultural Affairs
Multiple student organizations led by AAPI students come together at Student Union Plaza as we host the first joint Asian/Pacific American student organization expo. The tabling event will highlight the mission, heritage, and leadership of six host Asian American student-led organizations. Connect with AASA, JSA, LILACS, NOVA, SASE, and VASA in person at Student Union Plaze and virtually on Instagram. For more information, please contact Joyce Crawford, the Coordinator of Asian American Affairs.
VASA on Well-being
Vietnamese American Student Association
The topic of mental health will be on the spotlight as VASA explores ways to continue building and maintaining physical and mental wellbeing with our members and friends.
Meeting ID:
955 8929 8870
Boat People Day
Vietnamese American Student Association
The Vietnamese American Student Association (VASA) tells the journey to freedom on Boat People Day. In the years following the Vietnam War, thousands of refugees fled the country by sea in small crowded ships. Many lives were perished. On April 30, the Boat People Day, VASA reflects the history of the Vietnamese community on the VASA Instagram okstate.vasa.