In response to events that transpired during and after the 2011 East Coast Asian American Students Union (ECAASU) conference in mid-February at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, the Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW) in Boston, Massachusetts, has taken the lead to develop a petition directed at ECAASU leadership to address concerns about the direction of the organization and its annual conference. Please join us in solidarity by signing the petition here.

At the 2011 ECAASU conference, two speakers noticeably raised their concerns about ECAASU funding sources. Instead of encouraging dialogue to address these concerns, ECAASU leadership immediately chose to disassociate itself with the outspoken individuals. This petition was created with input from various members of the East Coast Asian American community, including ECAASU attendees and presenters, to galvanize support from participants like you around issues that need to be addressed within the ECAASU organization. The petition urges the ECAASU leadership to:

1) Cease using any source of military funding for ECAASU activities, which includes its annual conference, and to seek funding sources that share the progressive values upon which ECAASU and the Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) Movement were founded;

2) Develop an organizational structure for ECAASU that a) is transparent with its leadership structure, decision-making activities, operations and funding and b) actively engages and includes its conference participants and members of the APIA community for constructive feedback on improving the annual conference and the organization; and,

3) Issue a public apology for the email sent by the ECAASU Board of Directors that alienated and disenfranchised guest speakers Lai Wa Wu and Professor Vijay Prashad.

You can find detailed reasons for each request in the petition. Until these requests are met, we pledge to continue organizing for an ECAASU that is aligned with the progressive values upon which it was founded. Join us in solidarity by signing the petition.

 In addition to signing the petition, please distribute the petition widely within your APIA networks and send your thoughts and feedback directly to the ECAASU leadership.

ECAASU has recently created a survey to obtain feedback from the community. While it is unclear how the survey was created and how survey data will be analyzed and/or reported, petition supporters are highly encouraged to send any thoughts or concerns about the ECAASU structure and leadership directly to members of the ECAASU Board of Directors. ECAASU seeks to be an inclusive and representative organization; critical feedback from community members like you is needed to initiate the changes that are necessary.

The email addresses for members of the ECAASU Board of Directors are publicly available on their official website. For your convenience, they are listed below:

     Nancy Liang: nancy.yi.liang@gmail.com

     Calvin Sun: calvindsun@gmail.com

     Allen Pan: allen.w.pan@gmail.com

     Andrew Lee: yenju.andrew.lee@gmail.com

     Michelle Horikawa: No email address available on the official ECAASU website

Thank you for your time and support. We should all have a voice in shaping a conference that is aimed to “inspire, educate, and empower those interested in Asian American issues.

In solidarity,

ECAASU Participants