Ecampus students can join the community’s efforts to ‘make real change at OSU’
There is a long list of reasons why Oregon State University’s Asian & Pacific Cultural Center is meaningful to the student community. One is its ability to help students develop their identities. Another is that all six of the APCC’s focus areas promote and enhance student success.
Sara Caldwell-Kan, the center’s interim director, sums it up perhaps best of all, in a succinct way that gets to the heart of its impact.
“The APCC is a trusted home in the community,” she says.
There is a lot of truth in those nine words. It’s a trusted home because it’s a place where students feel like they belong, no matter where home really is.
This means that Oregon State Ecampus students who learn online benefit from engaging with their peers and OSU staff in a variety of ways. Cultural resource centers like the APCC are always adapting to meet student needs and preferences.
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“Being away from campus can be isolating, and interactions in class (online or in person) can leave students wanting more connection and a deeper sense of belonging,” Caldwell-Kan says. “We have a number of events, social media campaigns and ways to connect with staff and affiliated clubs.
“This can support students by validating their experiences (including racism, isolation, or finding cultural connections), building community and developing identity.”
Caldwell-Kan shared more insights on the Asian & Pacific Cultural Center’s efforts to achieve a sense of community, how ongoing social issues shape its work, and the ways in which student leadership is making waves.
How does the APCC support students in pursuit of their educational goals?
“In practice, this means creating spaces and opportunities for critical exploration of ourselves and what we need to thrive in a predominantly white institution. First and foremost, this means fostering a community that is welcoming where people can be their authentic selves and make meaningful connections.
“More specifically, we are attentive to student voice, and we work to support any needs that we are sensing or hearing from the many communities we support. This can be in the form of a leadership or wellness training for club officers, or diving deeper into how to build coalition and solidarity between the many ethnic groups that are often racialized as Asian or Pacific Islander.”
May is Asian, Pacific Islander and Desi American Heritage Month. How does the APCC celebration this occasion?
“We are celebrating through collective healing and recognizing solidarity we still have to build. The Asian, Pacific Islander and Desi communities are incredibly rich in their diversity, and are racialized in different ways.
“We come together out of the ways we have been categorically pushed together and how the dominant society racializes us, yet we represent so many incredibly different experiences. I think the core of this month is to celebrate the ways we collectively challenge the dominant narratives and oppression, and also to celebrate our myriad cultures and traditions.”
Sara Caldwell-Kan is the interim director of Oregon State’s Asian & Pacific Cultural Center.
How has the alarming rise in anti-Asian hate crimes impacted the services the APCC provides students?
“I think this rise in violence, as well as increased media attention to anti-Asian racism, has left us simultaneously exhausted and motivated to be here for our communities. It’s important for us to remind ourselves and to share out that this violence is not new. Many of us have experienced it our whole lives and are sometimes frustrated that it had to get to this level to be noticed.
“Overall, I think we are poised within the institution to make more calls to action and to deeply engage folks who otherwise may not have noticed us. That being said, when everyone is looking to us to lead, we are hurting in our hearts the most. So, this has been terribly challenging and an opportunity to make real change at OSU.”
Tell us about the “Making Waves” podcast, which is an engaging way to hear from those in the community.
“‘Making Waves’ is a student-run podcast and offers a wonderful opportunity for the students involved to deeply explore topics that are relevant to them. I think what’s powerful about this show is that you hear directly from students who arrive with different identities and different understandings of what it means to hold those identities.
“It’s very approachable because the hosts are learning together and sharing themselves.”
