The Newsletter for Hamline University’s Center for Multicultural and International Student Affairs Volume IX, Issue IV Editor: Jennifer Fairbanks INSIDE THIS EDITION ASIAN 2 HERITAGE – Cherish Hagen-Swanson is the new Coordinator for International Student Programs at the MISA Office. Her new position includes MONTH 3 developing and coordinating international student programs and workshop events throughout the year; as well as advising the Inter- MISA national Student Organization and the Hamline International STUDENT 4 Graduate Student Association. Cherish also works as an advisor for AWARDS – international students and assists with their transition to the Univer- sity to help them become better acclimated to the American culture. BANQUET 5 Cherish was born and raised north of Bemidji in a little town called SOCIAL Clearbrook here in Minnesota. The town’s origin dates back to the early 1900’s and its current 9 population is about 560 people. Before coming to Hamline, Cherish worked at the Minnesota JUSTICE SYM- – State University (MSU), Mankato as an admissions officer, teaching and graduate assistant, and POSIUM/ 10 International Student Association liaison for their International Student Office. She received her NASA EVENTS BA in English, German, and Mass Communications in 1996 from MSU, Moorhead. As an under- graduate, she thought she wanted to be a reporter. “Turned out I was wrong,” she said and she decided to go back to school. The MSU’s Graduate School in Mankato is where she received her MISA FUN 10 2006 MS in History. PAGE: Cherish landed in the field by applying for a graduate assistantship in International Education at TRIVIA AND Mankato. When she applied she thought it would be to study abroad. She said it turned out to be SNAPSHOTS “the best mistake ever” because she was introduced to international student programming. However, she did get the opportunity to spend a year abroad in Austria at the University and there she learned German. After being an international student in a foreign country, she learned that ANNOUNCING she could personally relate to international students’ experiences in the U.S. NEW EXECU- 11 Cherish describes her position at Hamline as the “right type of job. Everyone seems really nice TIVE BOARDS here.” Being the Coordinator for the International Student Programs gives her the opportunity to work with international students. She said that growing up in her town, there wasn’t a whole lot of diversity. At Hamline however, she is getting to learn a little bit everyday from people who are from all over the world. She also likes the fact that she can get to know all the international students, compared to Mankato where there is such a large number of international students that she could not possibly get to know everyone. In her spare time, Cherish likes being with her husband and their dogs-Snygg and Hiker. She also enjoys camping, hiking, hanging out with friends and having coffee, reading, and photography. “Supporting, Her future plans in life include learning more about immigration as well as travel more. Cherish has worked most recently at Minnesota Strengthening and State University, Mankato as an admissions officer, As for the MISA Office, she plans to settle in teaching assistant and graduate assistant/ Empowering more, have opportunities to meet more students, international student association liaison in the Our Community” and plan good events. She hopes to get every- International Student Office. She has her BA from body back on track and get everyone going MSU, Moorhead in English, German and Mass since 1970. again. Right now she said she’s trying to, “find Communications, and her MS from MSU, Mankato my place within the office.” in History. great deal of planning and hard work went in this year’s Asian Heritage Month (AHM) put on by the Asian Pacific American Coalition (APAC) student organization here at Hamline. Along withA the annual events that are held every year like the AHM Open House, the Asian Dance and Drum Festival, and a keynote speaker, APAC President, Ho Nguyen, said APAC also tried to “come up with new events to either meet the needs of the members or that coincides with the theme.” The events planned this year were a mixture of old and new and each event is a group effort. Nguyen explained the process by saying, “It normally begins with long meetings of brainstorming, then as a group, we decide which events make the most sense and are the most feasible. From there, we envision what we want and begin to slowly piece it together.” Each member takes part in different aspects of the events like booking the performer, reserving space, buying food, and the formatting the layout. Nguyen went on to say that “Asian History Month is a long process. We start with a rough plan in the fall and really hit the Jon Schill takes a bite. ground running in the second semester.” Some of the goals for Asian Heritage Month events are to not only educate the campus and community, but Nguyen said, “We put it on for our own community as well. It is important that we are addressing not only issues in the Asian American community, but also to celebrate all our accomplishments.” APAC had many goals they wanted to accomplish through the events but above all, they wanted to empower themselves and others in their community. They wish to reach out to others and share their history and experiences, and to give people a glimpse of the vibrant life of the Asian American community. As Nguyen puts it, “We want to show folks that we are beyond fried rice and egg rolls and we have actual role models that are not Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee.” This year’s theme, “Lilies, Roots and Seeds of Change” was meant to address the issues that Asian Americans face as a community and to also celebrate what they have done and look towards the future as to where they are going. The student organization also wanted to focus on the fact that Asian Americans are politically and socially active. The theme of lilies was represented in the Day of Remembrance. This Nguyen said, “signifies the reality of struggle in this country, roots signifies our history, those who have paved the way for us to continue to fight, it also signifies where we come from and its importance.” The seeds of change signify Asian Americans’ continual growth, progress, and strength. The Day of Remembrance took an immense Group Picture of the MAASU Pre-trip amount of research. Nguyen said it was mainly because, “there isn’t a lot of information regarding people who have fallen victim to anti-Asian sentiments.” Once the APAC members split up the research and compiled it together, they ended up with about 40 different incidences. However, this certainly doesn’t mean that there have- n’t been more victims other than what they could find. Page 2 he research that went into each individual had to include more than just a name but it was difficult for the organiza- tion to find pictures of everyone. Each card with a story Twas then put with a flower or a group of flowers to represent group deaths. To make sure the flowers wouldn’t be removed, APAC had to contact grounds people and picked precise locations to place the flowers. Along with the flowers and cards, a video APAC created on all of the victims was played around campus. The attendance at the events held for MAASU Formal Asian Heritage Month have been great. Nguyen hopes that even though the month is coming to an end, “we’ll continue with the good turn- outs.” As for the success of the events, Nguyen said, “I do be- lieve that people got what we wanted from the events. But at the same time, you can never expect to change the way people think, you can only hope that they leave knowing a bit more than when they got there.” The direction of APAC for next year will be in the hands of new students. Nguyen is sure however, that the direction of Asian Family Feud the student organization will be positive, vibrant, and empower- ing. The organization has been around for a long time and is very strong. Nguyen says that, “next year, I can only imagine it getting Asian Heritage Month Events stronger.” Next year’s Asian Heritage Month is also expected to only get better. Nguyen adds, “A new group will mean new creative ideas. ◊ Asian Pacific American Coalition (APAC) It’ll be great, so people should just expect nothing less then that.” Open House ◊ Day of Remembrance ◊ Asian/Pacific Islander (APIA) U: Leadership 101 ◊ Outspoken Poetics: Spoken Word with Giles Li (with opening performances by Bao Phi and Juliana Hu Pegues) ◊ 11th Annual Asian Dance and Drum Fes- tival ◊ Ghost Stories with Ka Vang ◊ Kimchi and Mashed Potatoes: Korean Adoptee Dinner ◊ Asian Family Feud ◊ Movie Night: The Slanted Screen The 2006-2007 APAC Executive Board ◊ Comedianote Address: Ali Wong Page 3 he Native American Student Association (NASA) held a recruitment day on March 12th in the Student Center Lobby. The T student organization currently has four members and held the event to bring awareness to the fact that there is a student organization for Native Americans in the CLA and to encourage people to join. The organization’s President Colin Novack says the event was to also make other organi- zations and departments aware of NASA and their use as a resource. The event started at around 6pm and lasted till 7:30pm. Novack provided frybread and some refreshments for everyone who attended.