Students Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Week

Posted By Thea Toocheck on Apr 25, 2018 | 0 comments

Ramen Night (Photo Thea Toocheck/The Gettysburgian)

By Thea Toocheck, Staff Writer

The week of April 9, the Asian Student Alliance hosted the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Week on campus. Following the tradition of the nationwide Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May, the ASA, as well as the Office of Multicultural Engagement and Mosaic House, sponsored events throughout the week to draw attention to those of Asian and Pacific descent and their accomplishments. Heritage week was first held at Gettysburg last year, and the celebration of heritage was successful, so the ASA decided to hold it again.

Events were held Monday through Friday the week of April 9 and included a trivia night and a ramen night that featured a spicy noodle challenge. Boba tea sales in the CUB on Monday and Tuesday raised proceeds for “the Hepatitis B Foundation because, according to the CDC, a lot of Asian-Americans are diagnosed with Hep B,” Tammy Thon ‘20, the president of the Asian Student Alliance said; while Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders make up less than five percent of the US population, they account for over fifty percent of Americans with Hep B, a virus affecting the liver.

On Wednesday night, Jason Chu, a rap artist based in LA performed works related to Asian Identity at Mosaic House, and Kyra Van Dyke ‘21 noted that the crowd was very responsive to his performance. On Friday was a karaoke night that Thon thought was a nice way to get everyone together to celebrate the end of the week. “I enjoy the events that are happening,” she said. It is “a week long of events that I’ll cherish and enjoy the most, and I take pride in coming to these events; it’s just a fun time for all of my friends to get together.” She also emphasized that everyone is welcome to the week’s events as well as ASA’s events and activities in general because she believes they are a great way for people of different backgrounds to come together and enjoy and learn about Asian culture.