NativeHawaiianandPacificIslanderInclusivityonUSFCampus
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Whereas:TheUniversityofSanFranciscopridesitselfonbeingranked6thontheU.S.News&WorldReport’s
2016listoftopuniversitiesforundergraduatestudentsforethnicdiversity;and
Whereas:USF’s“CommitmenttoDiversity”homepagereadsasfollows:
“Inclusiveexcellencemeansfindingcommongroundamongdiversecommunities,andthenmovingto
higherground.AtUSF,wecelebrateanenvironmentwhereeveryindividualstepsintonewunderstanding
respectfullyandwithdelight,andwhereallarebetteroffbybeingpartofourdiversecommunity.”
Whereas:NativeHawaiiansandPacificIslandersarethethirdfastestgrowingethnicpopulationintheCalifornia
BayArea,accordingtotheSanFranciscoChroniclearticlein2011;and
Whereas:ThePacificIslandsofOceaniaarecomprisedofthreemainregionscalledMicronesia,Melanesia,and
Polynesia,whicharenotincludedinthecontinentofAsia;and
Whereas:TheU.S.Census(since1997,implemented2001)andUSFCensusrecognizethatNativeHawaiianand
PacificIslanders(NHPI)andAsianAmericansareseparateanddistinctracialgroups;and
Whereas:TheUniversityofSanFrancisco’sAsianPacificAmericanStudiesprogram,theCenterforAsiaPacific
Studies,andthesociologyclasstitledAPIsinU.S.Society,donotrecognizeNativeHawaiianandPacificIslanders
distinctfromAsianAmericans;and
Whereas:Only18%percentofPacificIslandersages25andupholdaBachelor’sdegree,accordingto
‘EmpoweringPacificIslanderCommunities’informationalbookletof2014;and
Whereas:PacificIslander(PI)studentsareaccountedfor0.8%ofthestudentpopulationatUSF,totaling88
undergraduateandgraduatestudents,andexpressconcernabouttheirmisrepresentationincurriculum,campus
spaces,faculty,andstaff;and
Whereas:Datacollectionisinaccurate,byconflatingdataofstudentswhoarebornandraisedontheislandswith
studentswhoarenativetotheislands,thereforemixingnationalitywithethnicity,ie.Guamanianasanationality
andChamorroasanativeethnicity;and
Whereas:TheCenterforAsiaPacificStudies(CAPS)overviewhomepagereadsasfollows:
“TheCenterforAsiaPacificStudiespromotesandfostersresearch,publicprogramsandteachingfocused
onGreaterChina,Japan,Korea,thePhilippines,andIndia.”
WhichdoesnotincludeanyofthecountriesorislandsthatcanbefoundinMicronesia,Melanesia,andPolynesia,
thethreeregionswithinthePacificIslandsofOceania;and
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Whereas:TheAsianPacificAmericanStudies(APAS)MinoristheonlydepartmentoncampusthathasanyPI
relatedmaterial,butdoesnotrequireanyclassesinvolvingNHPIcurriculumbesidesSOC228:APIsinU.S.Society,
whichonlydedicatesamaximumoftwoweekstoNHPIissuesand/orhistory;and
Whereas:Neighboringhighereducationinstitution,SanFranciscoStateUniversityofferscoursesundertheirRace
andResistanceStudiesdepartmentcateredtoPIhistorywhichincludeRRS103:IntroductiontoPacificStudies
andRRS303:HealthandWellnessamongPacificIslanders;and
Whereas:CityCollegeofSanFranciscooffersaCriticalPacificIslandsStudiesprogramandCertificateof
Accomplishmenttostudents,whichaimsto:
“...introduce[s]studentstoacriticalanalysisofPacificpeoplesandculturesintheU.S.diasporaand
beyond.PrivilegingthevoicesofnativePacificIslanders,theinterdisciplinarycurriculumexploresa
plethoraofhistoricalandcontemporarytopics,includingcolonization,militarization,socialmovements,
andimmigration,throughtheuseofacademicandcommunity-basedscholarship.”
Whereas:Noneofthe28JesuituniversitiesintheUnitedStateshaveprogramsorclassesthatarededicatedto
NHPIhistoryorculture;and
Whereas:ThereislimitedfacultyandstaffwithintheCAPSandAPASdepartmentsandoncampusthatareofPI
heritageandPIstudentsdonothaveindividualstotalkabouttheirexperienceswithwhowillrelate;and
Whereas:TheInterculturalCenterspreviouslyhostedadrop-inspacecalled“PauHana”whichusedaNative
Hawaiiantermfor“timeafterwork”,whichwasmeanttofocusonAsian,AsianAmerican,andPacificIslander
students,buthasbeenformallybeenchangedto“AsianAmericanDropIn”,
Whereas:PIstudentsdonotwishtoparticipateinprogramshostedbyvariousdepartmentsoncampusthat
continuetoattachandmixPIexperienceswithAsianAmericanexperiencesunderthe“API”or“APIA”umbrella
term;and
Whereas:APIstudentofChamorro(Micronesian)descentstated:
“IhaveattendedPauHanaafewtimesandithasbeenreallydifficulttoengageinconversationwhenI
amalwaysstillthe1%intheroomletalonetheworld.IfeelthattryingtocreateaspaceforNativePacific
Islandersand/orIndigenousstudentswouldbereallygreatgiventhatourhistoriesofcolonizationand
populationaresosimilar.WesharesomanystoriesandhistoriesandPacificIslandersandIndigenous
peoplesholdstrongalliancesbecauseofthat.IfindthatthegroupPauHanaseemstomarginalizeus
PacificIslandersmorethanwealreadyarebecauseoftheparticipationofcreatinganAPIspace.When
PacificIslandersarenotevenapartofthecontinentAsia,andourhistoriesaresosodifferent.”
Whereas:APIstudentofTongan(Polynesian)descentstated:
“PacificIslandersaretokenizedwithinacademicsatUSFandaren’tallowedforself-discovery.Youdon’t
reallyknowyourselfasaracializedbody...Ifthereare‘API’spaces,that’sadealbreaker.ThatmeansI’m
notgoingtothatthing,becauseifthey’reusinganoutdatedraceterm,I’mnotgunnabelievethatthey’re
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actuallythereforme.Theydon’tcareaboutmetoday.Theycareaboutme30someyearsago...
ProfessorsanddepartmentsstilllumpAsiansandPacificIslanderstogether.The‘experts’onracearenot
actuallyexperts.”
Whereas:APIstudentofAmericanSamoa(Polynesian)descentstated:
“ThestatisticstellmethatI’mthemostlikelytofailintheworldofhighereducation,andwhenIdon’tsee
myselfaccuratelyrepresentedintheliteratureI’mreading,theclassesI’mtaking,orthefacultythat’s
guidingme,Iunderstandwhythosenumbersexist.HowcantheinequalitiesIfaceasaPacificIslanderbe
recognizedandaddressedbythisUniversitywhenitstillreferencesthepeopleofOceaniaasAPI?That
terminologyisdismissiveofthefactthattherearemanydisparitiesbetweenthetwogroups.APIon
spacesmaybeadvertisedforme,buttheywerenotmadeforme.Andaslongastheyarebeingpromoted
assuchIwouldnotfeelcomfortableattendingthoseevents.”
Whereas:APIstudentofSolomonIslander(Melanesian)descentstated:
“WearenotAsians.Weareourownentity.WearesorichanddiverseandIfeelliketherestofour
communityhereneedstoknowthat.We’renotjustdotsonthemap.Weareactualhumanbeingswith
ourownstories.”
Therefore,beitresolvedbyASUSFSenateoftheUniversityofSanFrancisco,representingalltheundergraduate
studentsoftheUniversity:ThattheUniversityofSanFranciscowillmakeacontinuedefforttoseparatethe
umbrellaterm“API”withinacademicdepartments,suchastheCenterforAsiaPacificStudiesandtheAsian
PacificAmericanStudiesminor;furthermore,beit
Resolved:USFwillmakesuretohirefacultyandstaffthatwillaccuratelyrepresentandreflecttheNative
HawaiianandPacificIslanderstudentpopulation,proportionately,totalingin4hires;furthermore,beit
Resolved:TheUniversitywilldisaggregatecollecteddatawithinnativesthroughethnicidentityandnational
identitywithinUSFcensusforadmissionsanddatagathering;furthermore,beit
Resolved:Academicdepartmentsandcampusspaceswillactivelyseparatetheterm“API”withintheirprogram,
coursedescriptions,andacademicjargon,highlightingthatNativeHawaiianandPacificIslandersaredistinctly
differentandindependentofAsianandAsianAmericans;furthermore,beit
Resolved:AclassspecificallycateredtothecultureandhistoryofNativeHawaiianandPacificIslanderswillbe
offeredunderCriticalDiversityStudiesandwillbearequiredcourseforstudentswhowishtodeclareanAsian
PacificAmericanStudiesminor,whichwillbetaughtbyaqualifiedNativePacificIslanderProfessor;furthermore,
beit
Resolved:ProfessorsundertheAsianPacificAmericanStudiesminorwillbeactivelyinformedonandtrainedto
talkaboutNHPIhistoryandcontemporarysocialissues,andwillunderstandandacknowledgethedifferences
betweenAsianAmericansandNativeHawaiianandPacificIslanders;furthermore,beit
Resolved:ThattheseabovestatementswillbeinfruitionandcompletedbytheFallsemesterof2019.
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Submittedby:
Presented:
Signed: TabithaReyes,ASUSFStudentofColorRepresentative
Tuesday,February28,2017
Tuesday,March21,2017
ShayaKara,ASUSFPresident
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