Asian and Pacific Islander Students in California Say ‘Count Us Correctly’
By Margaret Kamara
When Christine Santos arrived at the University of California, Los Angeles from Guam in the fall of 2004, she said she felt like a foreigner even though nearly 34 percent of new students at UCLA were Asian.
Joining the Pacific Islander Student Association made her feel even lonelier and more underrepresented, she says. Even within the group, there were not many other Guamanian students. Santos says UCLA could help alleviate that loneliness by recognizing the ethnic differences between Asian groups.
Instead, the university lumps Santos and others into the category “Asian,” which includes Koreans, Pacific Islanders and Vietnamese, among several other distinct groups.
Last year, Santos joined the “Count Me In” campaign to get the University of California system, as well as the state, to disaggregate data so that the needs and challenges of the various Asian subgroups are overlooked.
The statewide student campaign tries to address what Oiyan Poon, president of the University of California Student Association, calls a “national issue.”
“Asian American and Pacific Islanders are one of the fastest growing populations in the country, and depending on where they live, they have specific needs,” says Poon.
