APSC FOR University Council

 

University of Pennsylvania Asian Pacific Student Coalition

 

The Asian Pacific Student Coalition and the rest of the 5B (UMOJA, Latin@ Coalition, Lambda Alliance, United Minorities Council) and PAGE (Penn Association for Gender Equity) demand:

 

1)    APSC be granted a University Council flex seat for this upcoming year.

2)    An increase in the number of University Council seats for underrepresented and misrepresented organizations.

3)    Permanent seats for all 5B coalitions and PAGE (Penn Association for Gender Equity).

 

The Asian Pacific Student Coalition, along with the 5B and PAGE, is shocked and appalled that it was not granted a seat on the University Council this year.  As the University Council is a representative forum and advisory body in which student groups can interact directly with major administrative officials at the University and present the student voice on salient issues, the denial of APSC by the Nominations and Elections Committee (NEC) for a seat sends a message that our voice is not necessary within high-level university policy discussion. This is the second time in five years that APSC has been denied a seat for University Council by the NEC. Prior to this petition, we have repeatedly requested a formal sit-down meeting with the NEC. The NEC continues to deny our request for a meeting, which we view as a failure to be accountable to the student body, which they seek to serve. We are turning public because of their refusal to meet with us. This repeated disregard and disrespect for the Asian Pacific Islander voice is absolutely unacceptable.

APSC represents the interests of all Asian-Pacific Islander students - a community that is historically and currently highly misrepresented in school and political affairs with under-representation from faculty and staff in the University. To deny the API population a voice in the UC is to deny the voice of a highly diverse and misrepresented 25% of the student body.

 

 

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

 

Asian Americans have been historically put down as a result of preconceived biases and stereotypes. We will not be the “quiet” or “safe” minority to target.

 

This is the second time in five years that APSC has been denied a seat. This denial sends a message to not only our board but also our entire constituency that the issues and matters of the Asian Pacific-Islander population are not as relevant or pertinent to Penn’s attention. This is highly problematic as it adds to the API issue of invisibility, supports the model minority stereotype, and allows other forms of discrimination, ignorance, and racism to continue to compound without proper attention and deference.

 

WHY DO WE DESERVE A SEAT?

 

We are a 5B umbrella organization with 22 constituent groups that supports and represents the interests of all Asian Pacific Islander Students at Penn. As a community that makes up 20-25% of the school population, we have been, and still are a highly misrepresented population in terms of faculty diversity, campus-wide racism and micro-aggressions, and other pertinent issues within school policy. Because of our diversity and misunderstanding as an aggregated minority, we require a platform to speak on the specific nuances and variety of our issues.

 

WHY DO WE NEED AN INCREASE IN UNIVERSITY COUNCIL SEATS?

 

Mis/underrepresented student groups should not be competing against each other to have a seat at the table. University Council is designed to be a broadly representative forum of the university. It is inherently unable to fulfill this goal if minority groups, such as APSC, are rejected from having a voice in this forum. The current number of University Council seats limits the ability of this body to be broadly representative of the rich diversity at Penn. The current situation forcing minority groups to compete against each other to prove their status as mis/underrepresented creates a hierarchy of oppression.

 

WHY DO WE NEED PERMANENT SEATS FOR THE 5B COALITIONS AND PAGE?

 

To be clear, we do not believe that we are more deserving of seats than other groups, but rather that we need permanent seats to preserve our ability to represent the issues of our constituents. All of us are umbrella organizations who represent well-established, diverse constituent groups who have suffered historical and continual discrimination and oppression. Together, our constituencies cover over 50% of the student population. Again, this is the second time in five years that APSC has been rejected for a University Council seat by the NEC. This is a clear sign to us that, no matter how much the API community is misrepresented, APSC is apparently still not worthy to continuously have the opportunity to represent our community on University Council. We do not trust the variability of the NEC and do not believe that the NEC body has a sufficient level of awareness of the issues faced by our community. Currently, there is no formal process outlined in the NEC constitution to obtaining permanent seats on University Council. This issue of permanent seats has been repeatedly contested in recent years, with no resolution. In the past when APSC has asked for a permanent seat, we were told that we did not deserve one because we would “take it for granted” and “we get one every year anyways”. Both of these statements are clearly false. It is time for a formal process for permanent seats to be adopted and for the 5B Coalitions and PAGE to be given permanent seats.

 

We call on members of the Penn community to stand with us in solidarity in our fight against this unjust decision and our fight to ensure that our voice will be valued and protected. Please sign and share this petition. Help us prove that Asian Pacific Islanders are not and will never be the “safe” minority to exclude from the conversation.