Students Celebrate AAPI Heritage Month

By: Hannah Park, Andrew Yuan

Asian and multicultural groups celebrated the Asian American Pacific-Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month with Spring Soul Fest, Hot Wings Challenge, Asian Dinner and other Asian-centered affinity events. 

Dean of Multicultural Affairs Sherry Hernández announced the beginning of AAPI Heritage Month in an email to all students: “AAPI Heritage Month is dedicated to celebrating the impact that the AAPI community has had on culture and society in the United States. The AAPI community encompasses cultures from the entirety of Asia and the Pacific Islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.” 

Asian Student Program Coordinator and faculty advisor of Asian Voices Kerrie Tinsley hoped that the AAPI events can “celebrate the rich history of Asians, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders, and to encourage learning more about the coalition of Asian Americans while recognizing and understanding cultural differences.”

“One aspect that we really hope to highlight in our AAPI heritage month events is the importance of solidarity both within the AAPI community and among the wider community on campus. OMA is committed to supporting and affirming individual cultural and affinity groups, but we also recognize the powerful voice that can be created by coming together in solidarity,” Tinsley continued.

The International Student Alliance, Exeter Pinoy Society, and Asian Voices hosted the Spring Soul Fest on April 30th. As students snacked on a variety of foods like boba, Asian snacks, and empanadas, others were performing at the Academic Quad, with open-mic and karaoke performances. 

Upper and co-head of Beat of Asia Grace Nivera commented on the student turnout and vibrant engagement in Soul Fest. “The energy was really high, and I could see a lot of people having a good time. When Shantelle performed, everybody had their phone flashlights out. She is an amazing performer with an angelic voice. It was also fun to hear everybody screaming during karaoke. There are certain songs that everybody loves, you know? People were performing their hearts out during karaoke,” she said. 

Senior and co-head of Asian Voices William Park explained the motivation behind hosting Soul Fest and necessary planning procedures. “Toby and I hosted the open mic program at the beginning and I MC-ed the karaoke portion. It was fun for me to get the crowd hyped with whoever is performing and I made sure that everyone was engaged in it.”

“My favorite part was seeing the audience getting engaged, such as playing an anime soundtrack or cheering the performers on. It was peak Exeter for me to see such a huge crowd cheering people on collectively,” he continued. 

Nivera agreed, stating that Soul Fest helped to honor Asian identity. “Asian food was a great way to encourage Asian heritage and the karaoke is obviously a beloved staple in many Asian households. There could have been games at the event, but then, Soul Fest would be too similar to Asian Carnival. To that respect, I think the event was perfect.”

As the Spring Soul Fest ended, students turned their attention to the Hot Wings Contest. On May 6, at the Academic Quad, students from Asian Voices, Black Students of Excellence, and La Allianza Latina gathered together for a friendly competition of who could handle the most spice. 

The idea for the contest began with senior Juliette Ortiz, who then told seniors Hansi Zhu and KG Buckingham-White. It eventually spread to the rest of the affinity clubs and solidified into a real event. “We all decided that this was going to be so fun to do, especially because we always talk about how much spice we can handle,” Park said.

  The contest ended up going above and beyond their expectations. With over 80 sign-ups, the turnout for the event was surprising, according to Park. “It was so much better than we could have imagined at the beginning,” he said. “It was really hype. Everybody was cheering their club’s name, and midway through everybody was crying and helping each other, and it got really intense. The eighth wing, The Bomb, was the worst.”

With milk and water nearby for safety as well as tofu options for vegetarians, it was clear the student coordinators had put a lot of thought into the event. A big goal had been to get the affinity spaces familiar with each other in solidarity. “[As cohead of Asian Voices], we’ve been working on just having these different communities come together, support each other, and have fun. We want to show that racial solidarity isn’t, you know, just a 1960s Civil Rights movement, but something that we can easily bring towards the day,” Park reflected. “Seeing the pride that everybody had for their respective affinity spaces and holding this incredible event together was a great success in my eyes.”

Tinsley spoke further on the importance of AAPI-centered events as a celebration and affirmation of Asian students with the surge of anti-Asian sentiment around the nation. “We understand that the news our students are exposed to is saturated with stories about anti-Asian sentiment and violence, as well as about the challenges of being Asian or Asian American in the current climate. The intention of our AAPI offerings is always to create spaces and host events that continue to affirm and empower our students,” she said. 

“I think people really underestimate how empowering and connecting programming like [the AAPI events] can be. This was my first event where all three of these spaces came together within the umbrella of OMA, and it was really awesome to see everybody else and how much pride they had,” Park continued, reminiscing on previous events. “Soul Fest and My Black Is Royalty fashion show is something I’m going to remember even after I graduate because it’s really powerful to see these events that students and OMA can organize. It’s really great that more of it is happening and how much people want to come to them.”

Student coordinators and various clubs are far from being done with their hard work in planning these events. Upcoming AAPI-related activities include the Asian Carnival on May 14 co-hosted by Asian Advisory Board and 8 Asian clubs with performances by the Pinoy Society, Beat of Asia and Shakti, AAPI movies series lunch at Capital Thai on May 13 and 20, Drag Queen Bingo co-hosted by Asian Advisory Board and Gender Sexuality Alliance on May 20th and dinner with guest chef Raj Mandekar of Tulsi Restaurant on May 21.