Notes on UCSD CCAAS Statement and Demands (UCSD, 2014)

Context and Purpose

  • Date and affiliation: Wednesday, February 26, 2014; For Immediate Release by the Coalition for Critical Asian American Studies (CCAAS) at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).
  • Solidarity and condemnation: Stand in solidarity with API communities and condemn racist, sexist, and violent events at UCLA and USC.
  • Not an accident: The flier content is not random or isolated; the messages are deliberately degrading and part of a long historical trajectory of anti-Asian racism and sexism.
  • Call to action on oppression: Reject explanations that blame ignorance; the hate on the fliers reflects systemic oppression that operates invisibly unless exposed and challenged.
  • Campus climate focus: The events prompt examination of campus climate for API students, who have historically been marginalized in discussions on campus life.
  • Model minority stereotype critique: API students have often been cast as the “model minorities” (high achieving, self-sufficient, silent), which suppresses recognition of their struggles and undermines demand for dedicated resources.
  • Resourcecenter critique: The stereotype contributes to under-urgency for an Asian American Resource/Research Center; API students still face lack of access to needed supports.
  • A call against apathy: Opposes willful institutional apathy that takes API student safety and experiences for granted; critiques the notion that API students are overrepresented as a smokescreen for underrepresentation.
  • Structural critique: What appears as “overrepresentation” hides the reality that API communities are critically underserved in administration, faculty, staff, student services, and curriculum.
  • Historical implication: The statements frame anti-API incidents as part of ongoing structural oppression rather than isolated acts.
  • Personal and collective stakes: API students have stories, need resources, and do not want to be silent; demand voices be heard and action taken.
  • Long-term reform call: Demands solutions that go beyond temporary fixes and reflect sustained, tangible changes.

API Student Experience and Representation at UCSD

  • Hypothesis about access vs. reality: API students are assumed to have access to resources and safety on campus, which is contradicted by lived experiences and institutional gaps.
  • Systemic underrepresentation: There is a lack of representation in administration, faculty, staff, student services, and curriculum for API students.
  • Mental health and CAPS critique: Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at UCSD does not have even one full-time Asian American, non-administrative, clinical staff member.
  • Curricular gaps: Absence of an Asian American Studies program and limited course offerings due to the departure of key faculty (Lisa Lowe, Nayan Shah).
  • Faculty and program development: Without new faculty lines and courses, it is hard to imagine a robust Asian American studies program capturing API diversity and contemporary issues.
  • Educational opportunities lost: Questions about opportunities in education, health and medicine, science, politics, business, law, journalism, and other fields that API students miss by not having a robust program.
  • Call for long-term accountability: Emphasizes the need for sustained, measurable changes rather than ad hoc responses.
  • Language of struggle: Addresses everyday racism, sexism, homophobia, and macro-aggressions like hostile letters and fliers as part of the broader climate problem.

Numerical Data and Context

  • Statement about UCSD undergraduate population representation:
    • Asian students: 10{,}686
    • Filipino students: 1{,}192
    • Total API undergraduates: 11{,}878
    • Proportion of UCSD undergraduates: 49.5\%
  • Expressed as:
    • 11,878(49.5%)11{,}878 \quad (49.5\%)
    • 10,686+1,192=11,87810{,}686 + 1{,}192 = 11{,}878
  • Source reference: UCSD Student Profile 2013-2014

Major Demands and Policy Proposals (Page 2)

  • The creation, establishment, and sustained funding of an Asian American Studies Minor program.
  • Open new faculty hiring lines that will teach and advise students pursuing Asian American Studies.
  • The creation of new classes that span topics such as Asian American Women's Studies, Asian American Sexuality, Asian American Health, and Southeast Asian American History and Contemporary Issues.
  • Increase hiring of API staff to serve as resources for the API student population in various aspects of campus life.
  • The creation, establishment, and sustained funding of an Asian Pacific Islander Middle Eastern Desi American Research and Resource Center (APIMEDA RRC).
  • Increase college access and outreach efforts and resources for Asian and Pacific Islander students, especially those who are classified as Southeast Asian American and Pacific Islander under the U.S. Census.
  • The creation, establishment, and sustained funding for an API welcome day during Triton Day and the design and printing for an API Student life book.
  • Increased funding for and permanent investment in SPACES, which has consistently provided growth and development of a number of access and retention programs that serve the API communities at UCSD.
  • Increased funding for and permanent investment in Ethnic Studies, Critical Gender Studies, and Literature.
  • Increased funding for and permanent investment in CAPS to hire clinical staff and develop community programs for API students and students of color; stressing the needs of API students in the United States and not be aggregated with Asian international student needs.
  • Making transparent the disaggregated statistics for admission and retention of Asian American and Pacific Islander students.
  • Signatories: The Coalition for Critical Asian American Studies at UCSD.
    • Maggie Quan
    • Shelley Kuang
    • Irving Ling
    • Jayne Manuel
    • Thomas Thao
    • Lilianne Tang
    • Donald Donaire
    • Katie Huang
    • Kevin Le
    • Anthony Jongco
    • Hanh On
    • Brian Lien
  • Support list: Student Organizations in support – Asian & Pacific Islander Student Alliance, Cambodian Student Association, Hmong Student Association, Kaibigan Pilipin@, Kamalayan Kollective, Nikkei Student Union, Southeast Asian Collective, Vietnamese Student Association

Key Concepts and Thematic Takeaways

  • Anti-Asian racism and sexism are framed as systemic, not incidental.
  • Challenge to the model minority stereotype and the related neglect of API-specific resources.
  • Importance of dedicated spaces and programs (Asian American Studies, APIMEDA, SPACES, Ethnic/Critical Gender/Literature studies).
  • Need for disaggregated data to reveal true admission and retention patterns for API students.
  • Emphasis on student voices and leadership in campus policy reform.
  • Distinction between API student needs and those of international students; insistence on addressing domestic API student concerns separately.

Connections to Foundational Principles and Real-World Relevance

  • Aligns with broader debates about inclusive excellence, representation, and resource allocation in higher education.
  • Supports the ethical obligation of universities to counter hate, ensure safety, and provide equitable access to education and wellbeing services.
  • Reflects interdisciplinary imperatives (Ethnic Studies, Gender Studies, Literature, Health, Education) for understanding API communities.
  • Highlights practical steps (new majors/minors, hires, centers, outreach, and data transparency) to operationalize equity.

Ethical, Philosophical, and Practical Implications

  • Ethical: Institutions must actively counter hate and protect marginalized communities; silence or inaction reinforces oppression.
  • Philosophical: Challenges the “model minority” narrative and calls for recognizing intersectional identities and systemic barriers.
  • Practical: Requires budget allocations, hiring, curriculum development, and data reporting; stakeholder engagement across administration, faculty, students, and community groups.

Summary of Core Messages

  • Hate on campus is not random; it reflects enduring systems of oppression and requires structural change.
  • API students face underrepresentation across multiple dimensions despite numerical prominence in the student body.
  • There is a clear demand for structural reforms: new programs, hires, centers, and data transparency to support API students and advance equity.
  • The coalition seeks sustained, measurable action rather than temporary fixes, with broad signatories and organizational support.

Appendix: Quick Reference to Key Figures and Terms

  • API: Asian and Pacific Islander.
  • UCSD Student Profile 2013-2014: source for demographic data.
  • CAPS: Counseling and Psychological Services.
  • SPACES: campus program/initiative supporting API access and retention.
  • APIMEDA RRC: Asian Pacific Islander Middle Eastern Desi American Research and Resource Center.
  • Triton Day: UCSD campus-wide orientation/visit day.
  • Disaggregated statistics: data broken down by specific API groups rather than aggregated.

Frequently Encountered Phrases to Remember

  • "not just 'unfortunate' or 'isolated'" acts, but part of a historical trajectory.
  • "smokescreen of rhetoric" that overrepresents API presence while masking underrepresentation.
  • "macro-aggressions" as part of everyday campus life that must be addressed with long-term strategies.
  • Call for voices of students and communities who have been grievously injured to be heard through tangible, comprehensive, sustained changes.