In celebration of Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Heritage Month, Cal Poly APIDA and the Multicultural Center (MCC) hosted seven events throughout May to uplift APIDA identities, experiences and cultures, interdisciplinary studies junior and Multicultural Center student assistant Ashley Kang said.
APIDA Heritage Month recognizes the experiences and identities of Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders/Indigenous Native Hawaiian and Desi Americans, referring to those with roots in South Asia, according to the Multicultural Center’s Instagram post.
“[APIDA] covers a really wide diaspora,” Kang said. “It doesn’t just cover people who are fully within that ethnicity, but also people who are mixed or just come from that culture. It’s a really big panethnicity.”
This year’s celebrations included a keynote speaker event with Philip Wang, CEO and cofounder of Wong Fu Productions, on May 16. Additionally, the annual State of APIDA event occurred on May 23, where a student panel shared experiences of what being APIDA is like at Cal Poly, Kang said.
Other events throughout the month included a discussion about toxic masculinity within APIDA communities with Cal Poly Men & Masculinities on May 14 and a teach-in event on May 24 with the Cal Poly South Asian Student Association about South Asian identity.
Kang emphasized that APIDA Heritage Month is important because it recognizes and appreciates many who have been historically marginalized.
“Living in the United States, there are a lot of underrepresented groups that have historically been not only marginalized, but actively discriminated against,” Kang said. “It’s important to uplift those voices and give them a space where they can be celebrated.”
For the final event of the month, MCC collaborated with the APIDA Faculty & Staff Association (FSA) to host a dumpling-making event in the culinary lab on May 29. Co-chair for APIDA FSA Stanley Leung said it was an opportunity for students to appreciate APIDA culture through food.
“A lot of times students don’t have access to Asian food on campus,” Leung said. “This event is great because students can take some extra [dumpling] filling [to make] at home or make dumplings together here at the culinary lab. We hope this event gives students a sense of belonging at Cal Poly.”
Industrial technology and packaging freshman Katerina Harris said she appreciated being met with a welcoming community when she attended the dumpling-making event.
“I love that there are places on campus like this where we can make delicious food and meet new people,” Harris said. “It’s a really great community and I had a lot of fun.”
Mustang News reporter Matthew Muren contributed to the reporting of this story.