Guide to the Stanford AAPI Community Oral Histories SC1617
University Archives staff
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
August 2022
Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford 94305-6064
Fax Number: (650) 723-8690
specialcollections@stanford.edu
Collection contains one series of oral history interviews
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Stanford AAPI Community Oral Histories
Creator:
Stanford Historical Society. Oral History Program
Identifier/Call Number: SC1617
Physical Description:
500 megabyte(s)
Date: 2021-
Physical Location: Special Collections and University Archives materials are stored offsite and must be paged 48 hours in advance. For more information
on paging collections, see the department's website: http://library.stanford.edu/spc.
Language of Material:
English
.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California 94304-6064. Consent
is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission
from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s) or assigns. Restrictions also
apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational
purposes.
Conditions Governing Access
Some materials are restricted to users with a Stanford University ID.
Scope and Contents
This collection contains oral history interviews with Stanford AAPI Community members, and associated transcripts.
Preferred Citation
[identification of item], Stanford AAPI Community Oral Histories (SC1617). Department of Special Collections and University
Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Asian Americans -- California -- Stanford
Stanford University. Asian American Activities Center
AAPI Student Activism Oral Histories Series 1
Physical Description: 10 item(s)
Language of Material: English.
Scope and Contents
The interviews in this series document alumni memories of student activism and community building within the Stanford Asian
American Pacific Islander community, including advocacy and protest for an Asian American Studies program and the establishment
of the Asian American Activities Center (A3C).
Hayashi, Kris
2021-07-12
Kris Hayashi - Recordings
Kris Hayashi - Transcript
Creator: Hayashi, Kris
Creator: Yang, Melody
Abstract: Kris Hayashi (AB Asian American Studies, 1997) speaks about organizing for Asian American Studies during his undergraduate
years at Stanford, including connecting with other students, alumni, and staff through the Asian American Activities Center
and designing his own major within Asian American Studies. Hayashi discusses organizing on and off campus to stop Prop 187,
an anti-immigrant initiative, and the events leading up to the Faculty Senate meeting disruption, its aftermath, and his near
expulsion. He also details how he became so interested in ethnic studies: learning about the history of communities of color
coming together, being gender nonconforming as a child, and his early exposure to injustice. Lastly, Hayashi discusses his
career after graduation, including starting TransJustice at the Audre Lorde Project and serving as the executive director
of the Transgender Law Center.
Language of Material: English.
Ho, Karen
2021-08-10
Karen Ho - Recordings
Karen Ho - Transcript
Creator: Ho, Karen
Creator: Yang, Melody
Abstract: Karen Ho (AB Feminist Studies, 1993; MA Education, 1994) recalls being introduced to the Feminist Studies Program in her junior
year at Stanford, which sparked her interest in activism and advocating for Asian American studies at the university. Arriving
at Stanford in the wake of the 1989 Takeover of the President's Office by a coalition of students of color, she reflects on
the historical contexts and circumstances that influenced the movement for ethnic studies at Stanford, including both the
gains realized by activists and the backlash and resistance to those gains. Ho describes the link between feminist studies
and critical race studies as well as the importance of coalition building with other student groups, including the Latino
students involved in the 1994 Hunger Strike. She speaks about the formation of the Concerned Students for Asian American Studies,
the rationale surrounding the 1994 protest at the Faculty Senate, and its aftermath. She also eloquently argues for the need
for ethnic studies in the curriculum and comments on the state of the field today.
Language of Material: English.
Nakao, Ron
2021-07-22
Ron Nakao - Recordings
Ron Nakao - Transcript
Creator: Nakao, Ron
Creator: Yang, Melody
Abstract: Ron Nakao (AB Economics, 1978; BS Chemical Engineering, 1978; MA Economics, 2003; and Ph.D. Education, 2007) describes his
involvement in the Asian American community as an undergraduate at Stanford during the 1970s and his experience identifying
with the label
Asian American. He also speaks about his participation in Asian American interest organizations at Stanford, such as Asian
American Student Association, the People's Teahouse, the Asian American Theater Project, and the Asian American New Student
Orientation Committee, and how they interacted with the broader Stanford population. Nakao reflects on his involvement with
redress and reparations for Japanese Americans in the Bay Area and how participating in various ethnic organizations prepared
him for both his professional and organizing life.
Language of Material: English.
Suh, Richard
2021-07-28
Richard Suh - Recordings
Creator: Suh, Richard
Creator: Yang, Melody
Abstract: Richard Suh (AB History, 1990) speaks about his experience of cultural shock attending Stanford in the late 1980s and early
1990s, as well as the resources and opportunities available to those in Asian American interest organizations at that time.
When reflecting on his involvement in the Asian American Student Association, Suh highlights how it introduced him to organizing
and recalls protesting the Western culture course requirement and taking over Stanford President Donald Kennedy's office to
bring attention to the cause of establishing an Asian American studies program with tenure track faculty. Suh also details
the takeover and its aftermath, including his arrest, Stanford students' responses, and how being a student activist and working
with AASA affected his life after graduation.
Language of Material: English.
Wu, Judy
2021-08-11
Judy Wu - Recordings
Judy Wu - Transcript
Creator: Wu, Judy
Creator: Yang, Melody
Abstract: Judy Wu (BA American Studies, 1992; MA, 1993; Ph.D., 1998) discusses feeling out of place initially at Stanford in the 1990s,
but later discovering herself and community through Asian American interest organizations, such as the Asian American Activities
Center and Asian American Student Association. She recalls how racist incidents in Ujamma, the Black theme dorm on campus,
compelled her to get involved in activism for ethnic studies and other issues and remembers the interracial coalitions that
supported each other during her time as a student. She also details her involvement with the takeover of Stanford president
Donald Kennedy's office, including planning, being arrested, and how the community responded afterwards. Wu reflects on being
an Asian American studies professor and the state of ethnic studies today and its importance, as well as the lessons learned
from organizing and how they affected her.
Language of Material: English.
Stanford Asian American Pacific Islander Oral History Project Series 2
2023-2024
Asai, David J.
2023-09-01
David Asai - Recordings
David Asai - Transcript
Creator: Asai, David J.
Creator: Shimoda, Risa
Abstract: David Asai (BS Chemistry, 1975) describes his childhood in a Japanese American household in Vermont, Kansas, and Hawaii, and
speaks about his father's experience as a preacher, often in small, mostly white towns. He recalls the path that led him to
Stanford and the influence that living in Junipero, the first Asian American theme house, had in forming his Asian American
identity. He shares memories of learning from Edison Uno and Junipero resident fellow Harumi Befu, setting up the Tea House,
and student activism, including forming Students for Equity in solidarity with other racial and ethnic communities on campus
when Stanford was trying to increase work study aid and decrease gift aid and walking out of commencement in 1975 when Daniel
Patrick Moynihan was the speaker. Lastly, Asai outlines how his time at Stanford has influenced his current work developing
programs to improve science education and to make it more inclusive.
Inn, Kalei
2023-10-12
Kalei Inn - Recordings
Kalei Inn - Transcript
Creator: Inn, Kalei
Creator: Salvador, Bo-Gay Tong
Abstract: Kalei Inn (1975 PhD, Sociology of Education) reflects on her experience as an Asian graduate student at Stanford in the 1960s,
during which time she served as the first resident assistant for Junipero, the Asian American theme dorm on campus. She recalls
how migrating from Hong Kong to Hawaii at a young age, before coming to study in California, impacted her studies and her
sense of ethnic identity. She describes her field of study, which deals with ethnic mix and sense of marginality among ethnic
minorities, particularly in Asian American children. She talks about her passion for increasing ethnic pride among all people
and how that stemmed from her experiences at Stanford where she interacted with people from different backgrounds. She reflects
on her career after Stanford, explaining that her focus has always been on centering Asian American culture and history and
helping others understand its impact.
Leong, Deborah J.
2023-08-28
Deborah Leong - Recordings
Deborah Leong - Transcript
Creator: Leong, Deborah J.
Creator: Wang, Jacob
Abstract: Deborah J. Leong (BA Psychology 1977, PhD 1997) recalls her upbringing in a predominantly Italian community and her father's
prominent role in the Californian wine industry. She discusses her involvement in starting the Asian American Students' Association
(or Asian American Student Alliance, AASA), as well as going with a coalition of Stanford students to Washington, DC to advocate
for the end of the Vietnam War, helping to hire ethnic studies lecturers, and creating cultural spaces like an Asian teahouse
on campus. Leong also recounts her experience of switching her major from music to psychology, teaching summer camp programs
for children at Bing Nursery School, and managing her own summer camp with at-risk multilingual students in San Francisco
Chinatown. Leong reflects on the impact of Stanford faculty, including John Lewis, and recalls the difficulties of having
an interracial relationship. She also discusses the legacy of her child development organization Tools of the Mind (www.toolsofthemind.org),
how she is using psychology and technology to improve classroom equity for children, and helping teachers to impact the development
of executive functions, social-emotional development and child achievement Tools of the Mind was an outgrowth of her experience
as an undergraduate and graduate student at Stanford and was nurtured by many in the Stanford community years after leaving
the university.
Nagai, Nelson
2023-08-09
Nelson Nagai - Recordings
Nelson Nagai - Transcript
Creator: Nagai, Nelson
Creator: Vilaysack, Matthew
Abstract: Nelson Nagai (AB Political Science, 1972) describes his upbringing in a diverse neighborhood in Stockton, California, in the
1950s and the circumstances that brought him to Stanford. He discusses experiencing culture shock his freshman year given
the small number of minority students on campus before finding a community. He explains how his participation in anti-Vietnam
War protests with college students in Japan encouraged him to help found the Asian American Student Alliance (AASA) and become
more politically involved. Nagai details his contributions to activism at Stanford including protesting to demand the inclusion
of Asian American students in a delegation sent to Washington, DC to advocate for the end of the Vietnam War, the recruitment
of Asian American students, and the creation of Asian American studies classes. Nagai also describes students' demands for
spaces such as an Asian ethnic themed dorm (now Okada), the AASA house, and dining halls with Asian cuisine, as well as his
involvement in pivotal Asian American activist movements in the Bay Area including BAACAW (Bay Area Asian Coalition Against
the War), Community Against Nihonmachi Eviction (CANE), and Nihonmachi Little Friends (NLF), a pre-school program that still
serves the Asian community.
Nakamura, Hope
2023-08-07
Hope Nakamura - Recordings
Hope Nakamura - Transcript
Creator: Nakamura, Hope
Creator: Tran, Britney
Abstract: Hope Nakamura (AB Economics, 1983) speaks about growing up in the Westchester neighborhood in Los Angeles with her parents
and Issei grandparents. She mentions that she chose to attend Stanford because of the opportunity to live in Junipero, the
Asian American theme dorm, where David Henry Hwang, the playwright behind FOB, was a theme associate. Nakamura describes her
deep involvement with the Asian American community while she was an undergraduate, including participating in the Asian American
Theater Project, the Asian American Students Association (AASA), and working as an intern with the Office of Student Affairs
where she was in charge of the Asian American Activities Center. She outlines the activism within the Asian American community
on campus, especially organizing to get more resources for AAPI students. She shares stories about working with Asian American
communities in San Jose and a meaningful trip to Tule Lake. Lastly, she explains how her activism led to a career in public
interest law and her continued advocacy work for Asian American Studies at Stanford.
Salvador, Bo-Gay Tong
2023-08-08
Bo-Gay Tong Salvador - Recordings
Bo-Gay Tong Salvador - Transcript
Creator: Salvador, Bo-Gay Tong
Creator: Tran, Britney
Abstract: Bo-Gay Tong Salvador (AB Psychology, 1971) describes growing up in the mostly white community of Northridge, California, where
she was an only child with little knowledge of her family's history. She explains how she became more aware of her ethnic
identity once she came to Stanford and met other Asian American students. She shares memories of the Chinese Students Association
and the founding of the Asian American Student Alliance (AASA), recalling early meetings, differing opinions within the community,
and events that AASA sponsored, including a performance by Chris Iijima and Nobuko Miyamoto. She describes how, after graduation,
she was introduced to Asian American activists in Los Angeles and how that led to a job with ABC Pride (Asian, Black, and
Chicano Pride) where she helped develop ethnic studies curriculum for elementary school children. She speaks about her own
family's history and cofounding the Chinese Family History Group where she has enjoyed a supportive community of those eager
to research and write about their family stories.
Shu, Jeannie Irene
Jeannie Shu - Recordings
Jeannie Shu - Transcript
Creator: Shu, Jeannie Irene
Creator: Tran, Britney
Abstract: Jeannie Shu (AB Psychology, 1972) describes what it was like coming to Stanford from the Midwest and connecting with the Asian
American community at Stanford. She speaks about the impact Vietnam War protests and John F. Kennedy's presidency had on her
desire to be an activist, and she recalls her involvement with the Asian American Students Alliance (AASA) and learning more
about her identity as a Chinese American. She recounts connecting to the Chinese American community through living with Bo-Gay
Tong, Deborah Leong, and Kalei Inn, as well as early AASA meetings and outreach. She remembers living in Junipero during its
first year of existence and volunteering at the tea house. Shu speaks about her life post Stanford, reflects on her political
awakening at Stanford, and offers advice on learning more about one's identity.