Honoring Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Heritage Month
A message from: Lorenley Báez, Associate Provost for Equity & Belonging
Dear Students,
The beginning of Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Heritage Month dates back to the 1970s when a congressional staffer approached Representative Frank Horton of New York with the idea to honor Asian Pacific Americans. In 1977, Representatives Horton and Norman Y. Mineta of California introduced a resolution to proclaim the first ten days of May as Asian-Pacific Heritage Week. A month later, Senators Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga, both from Hawaii, introduced a similar bill. Neither of these resolutions passed. However, in 1978, Representative Horton introduced House Joint Resolution 1007, which passed and proposed a week beginning May 1979.
The proposed resolution determined that May would be the designated month for two reasons. The first Japanese immigrants arrived in the United States on May 7, 1843, and on May 10, 1869, the golden spike was driven into the first transcontinental railroad, which was built using Chinese labor. On October 5, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed a joint resolution for the celebration. On May 1, 2009, President Barack Obama signed Proclamation 8369, recognizing the month of May as Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. As May is an abbreviated month for our students, focused on finals, end-of-year festivities, and commencement, we, like many universities nationwide, celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in April.
As we embark upon this month-long celebration, I invite you to be curious, reflective, and introspective about this community’s history, contributions, and culture. We continue to witness ongoing assault and violence on the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. It is imperative that we continue to support and advocate to eradicate ignorance, bias, and hatred. Additionally, I recommend we give consideration to the role of race, cultural and linguistic disenfranchisement, and citizenship, and the context it plays in history, which continues to oppress and marginalize this community.
To kick off the month, I would like to invite you to the Second Annual Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Mixer on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the University Center room 514. This will be an opportunity to connect with each other and celebrate this community. Light refreshments and snacks will be provided.
I encourage you to visit the Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Heritage Month hub for the full list of events, community resources, and student organizations on campus.
I look forward to celebrating this month with you!