Asian American & Pacific Islander (AA & PI) Thriving Initiatives

Background image: Student smiling and looking to the distance
Image credit:
Brandon Alexis Sanchez Mejia

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Join us in shaping a more inclusive future for our Asian American and Pacific Islander communities at UC Berkeley by attending community convenings, contributing to documenting AA & PI community presence on our campus, and supporting the academic and co-curricular needs of our students through mentorship, time, and financial support.

For more information about the initiative please contact: aapiti@berkeley.edu.

Topics

Asian American & Pacific Islander (AA & PI) Thriving Initiatives topic page

On April 7th, 2023, UC Berkeley was designated by the US Department of Education as an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution * (AANAPISI).

This historic designation reflects our institutional commitment to deepening our capacity to serve AA & PI student communities as part of our broader commitment to serving all students on our campus.  

Our federal designation as an AANAPISI institution insists on our collective reimagining and realization of academic, co- curricular, and research opportunities for our AA & PI undergraduate and graduate students in our collective pursuit of greater educational access and equity at Berkeley.  This means that we must strive to become an AA & PI Thriving institution – i.e. an institution that is committed to processes of cultural and structural transformations in service to the needs of not only our AA & PI undergraduate and graduate student communities, but also our AA & PI staff, faculty, and alumni as well. 

AA & PI Thriving Photo Highlights

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Group of graduates with their regalia and flowers

May 19th, 2019 SEA Grad (Southeast Asian Graduation), Pauley Ballroom

A group of 5 people at a high top table

AAPISC Launch Event: "Twenty Years Later" Report, November 3, 2021, Tilden Room

3 people smiling for a group photo

April 23, 2016: Norman Mineta, Dr. Ling-chi Wang, and David Mineta at the launch of the Helen Mineta Undergraduate Endowment event at the the Alumni House.

[Event Recap] Building Your Home: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders at Cal

Work to Date

Since its inception in April 2023, the AA & PI Thriving Initiative has engaged over 75 stakeholders and thought partners to learn about the specific and unique needs, values, and vocabularies within and beyond AA & PI student, staff, faculty, and alumni communities on campus, including: 

  • Asian American & Asian Diaspora Studies (AAADS)

  • Asian American Research Center (AARC)

  • Asian American & Pacific Islander Standing Committee (AAPISC)

  • Asian Pacific American Systemwide Alliance (APASA)

  • Asian Pacific American Student Development (APASD)

  • Educational Opportunity Program (EOP)

  • Ethnic Studies (ES)

  • Ethnic Studies Library 

  • Filipinx Faculty and Staff Association (FFSA)

  • Honoring Ancestry and Uniting Pacific Islanders and Asian Americans (HAUPIAA)

  • Library Equity & Inclusion Committee (LEIC)

  • Middle Eastern, North African, and South Asian Staff Organization (MENASA)

  • Office of Undergraduate Admissions (OUA)

  • Office of Graduate Diversity (OGD)

  • Transfer Student Center 

  • UCOP AANAPISI Initiative

  • Undocumented Student Program (USP)

  • Alumni

Community Convenings

The Initiative has also organized the following convenings since April 2023:

  • October 6, 2023: “Building Your Home: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders at Cal” Panel co-sponsored with AAPISC and UDAR
  • October 24, 2023: AA & PI Staff Thriving Gathering co-sponsored with APASA 
  • November 15, 2023: AA & PI Undergraduate Student Thriving Gathering co-sponsored with the AAPISC Wellness Subcommittee

News

DEI programs are tools for student development, not political fodder

June 8, 2023
States across the country are seeking to eliminate public education funding for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and research in campaigns led by politicians who openly devalue and criticize DEI work as part of a “woke” agenda .Read more about DEI programs are tools for student development, not political fodder

*The term "Native American Pacific Islander" used by the federal government in this context means any descendant of the aboriginal people of any island in the Pacific Ocean that is a territory or possession of the United States. For more information, see federal definitions.