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The Dartmouth
March 28, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Students: Asians need more resources

About 50 Asian-American students met with nine College administrators last night to discuss what some called "a general lack of resources" for Asian-American students at Dartmouth.

Students focused most on the issue of a dean or administrator designated to Asian students.

The "Pan-Asian Roundtable discussion" was organized by Erica Ryu '98 and Willy Wong '99 and attended by Dean of the College Lee Pelton, Dean of First Year Students Peter Goldsmith and Dean of the Class of 1999 Sylvia Langford.

Ryu said the purpose of the meeting was to gather Asian-American students together to assess the needs of Asian-Americans on campus.

"I think in terms of Asian life Dartmouth is a lot weaker than other schools," Deborah Lee '00 said.

In the beginning of the meeting some students said there was a need for a dean of Asian and Asian-American students.

But Pelton said it is unlikely the College will hire such a dean. "The College does not have, and probably will not have in the future a dean that is designated for a particular group," he said.

"If progress is to be made in meeting the needs of Asian-American students we need to have some serious discussions about what those needs are," Pelton said. "We need some clarity about what those needs are."

The students and administrators divided into several small groups each to discuss a specific concern of Dartmouth's Asian-American community. Topics included designating a College administrator as liaison to Asian-American students, mentorship or counseling for Asian-Americans, money for programming events and Asian faculty and research support.

During the group discussions many students said they felt frustration because many people consider Asian-Americans an "over-represented" minority.

Asians "feel as though they are a minority, but then they are told they are not," Korean American Students Association President Steve Oh '98 said.

Belinda Ng '98 said one example of the problem is that Asian-Americans are not invited to the minority perspective weekend.

Facts-alumni network for internships, career help and fundraising.

Some students discussed the possibility of creating a newsletter for all Asian-American students. Also discussed was the possibility of increased resources for Asian freshmen.

Sarah Cho '97 said she is helping compile an Asian-American resource guide, fashioned after a Latino resource guide recently published on campus.

Cho said the pamphlet will be available later this winter.

Students said the discussion was productive for the Asian community.

"I think we need commitment as a community and we also need commitment from faculty and deans," Ng said.

"From what I saw tonight, its hopeful."