Creating an Asian Pacific American Cultural Center: The Asian American Movement at the University of Iowa 1998–2003

• In Event: Centering Asian American Midwestern Voices in Educational Historiography

Abstract

Objective
This paper traces the political years of the Asian American Coalition (AAC) at the University of Iowa from 1998 to 2003. The AAC created a uniquely Midwestern pan-ethnic Asian American community. These students protested alongside other racialized students for the protection of multicultural resources and created a politically conscious group of Asian American students that successfully advocated for the Asian Pacific American Cultural Center (APACC) at the University.

Theoretical Framework, Data, and Methods
Three sources were used for this project. The first is the AAC collection at the University of Iowa’s Archives. Second is the oral history collection “No Longer Invisible,” which houses stories of Asian American student leaders. Finally, I used student newspaper coverage of the AAC. Using archival records, newspaper articles, and oral histories, this study is grounded in historical research methods which triangulate these data sources against each other to reconstruct a trustworthy and authentic history of the AAC (Storey 2004). For instance, the oral histories provide context for how the AAC organized.

Results
The AAC came into existence after a university counselor gave a presentation called “Asian Americans: Am I Invisible?” to a group of students. The students in attendance formed AAC and demanded the university create the APACC.
The University of Iowa had two existing cultural centers, the Afro-American Cultural Center and the Latino Native American Cultural Center. In the late 20th century the cultural centers were under threat of being shut down. The students that used those buildings protested, and the AAC quickly joined in support. This early interracial activism in 1999 protected the existing cultural centers, and in 2003 they would win the APACC when Dr. Sandy Boyd became interim president of the University. He was the president in the 1960’s and 1970’s when the original cultural centers opened. The AAC capitalized on his connection to the cultural centers, and persuaded him to create the APACC.

Significance
The history of higher education has traditionally excluded Asian Americans (Tamura 2001). When Asian Americans do appear it has usually been about the Third World Liberation Front (Wei 2010). However, recent scholarship has included the Midwest as an authentic site of Asian American history (Lee 2009). Notably, Dr. Lee’s (2021) Unseen Unheard Minority captures a history Asian American activism at the University of Illinois. This paper expands that discussion of Asian American history in higher education with Iowa at the center.
Iowa provides a unique lens for Asian American history in higher education as the AAC reflected many different Asian Americans. The University of Iowa’s AAC was a mixture of students from the coasts, adoptees, children of refugees, recent immigrants, second generation Asian Americans, and Asian Americans from interracial households. There was no cohesive identity that captured Asian Americans in Iowa. However, the AAC demonstrated how these disparate groups came together to create a pan-ethnic organization that ultimately won a major resource for their newfound community.

Author

• Jin Chang, University of Iowa
  Presenting Author