Our mission is to foster and promote the global community of Harvard Asian alumni.

Complaints Against Harvard Regarding Admissions of Asian-Americans

Submitted by parkjeannie on Thu, 2015-05-21 19:47

We know that many of you have been following the recent complaints filed against Harvard alleging that its admissions policies discriminate against Asian Americans. We are as eager as you are to see and review the responses from the University, the court and the agencies involved. Some of you have asked, "Where does H4A stand?" We simply do not have enough facts yet to take sides (and we do not have any inside information). We also believe that our members hold views that vary widely.  

In the meantime, as some of you have asked HAAAA for guidance on how to react, here are some thoughts from the HAAAA leadership, with input from our University Affairs Committee:
• We believe strongly in the need for a diverse student body, one that represents a range of races, ethnicities, cultures, socioeconomic levels, life experiences and points of view.
• We believe that at present, race-conscious admissions are necessary to help create this diversity. 
• We hope that there are no unofficial ceilings or unspoken biases that restrict the admission of Asian Americans and that Harvard has carefully examined whether they exist and is guarding against them. 
• We are opposed to any efforts that would pit Asian Americans against other racial groups in an effort to bring about policy change on the issue of affirmative action. 

As a matter of background—and not as our take on the issue—here is what Harvard College Dean of Admissions William Fitzsimmons told us at our global Summit last October. He adamantly denied the existence of quotas for Asian Americans. He noted that the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights previously investigated the lower rate of admission of Asian-American applicants as compared with white applicants and found no evidence of discrimination. Instead, the disparity was found to result from the preferences given to children of alumni and recruited athletes. (This was in 1990.) He did not detail the magnitude of any past or present disparities attributable to legacy/athletes, nor did he explain the need for the preferences; he did note that today there are more Asian-American alumni and athletes. He also mentioned efforts to recruit Asian Americans from disadvantaged backgrounds and underrepresented ethnic groups and those who are among the first generation of their families to attend college.

We have shared our thoughts with the Harvard Administration. As we learn more, we will share it with it you through email and/or our Facebook page. If you'd like further background, below are links to the actual complaints, as well as some frequently cited opinion pieces. Please continue to send us your thoughts. We hope to see many of you at the HAAAA/SAAA Reunion Reception on Saturday, May 30, where we can discuss this in person. 

Sincerely,
Bill Yao AB '90, HAAAA President
and the HAAAA Executive Committee and Board

HAAAA Southern California Presents... Two Young Writers, Julie Wu AB '88 and Jennifer J. Chow

Submitted by johnwang17 on Sat, 2015-02-28 10:42
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Two young writers, Jennifer Chow, the author of a novel "The 228 Legacy," and Julie Wu AB '88, the author of " The Third Son" come to LA for a speech on how “228 “and the” White Terror” are woven into their novels.


 

Sunday, March 1, 2015 @ 2:00 P.M 
Taiwan Center of Los Angeles, 3001 South Walnut Grove Ave., Rosemead, CA 91770  

Julie Wu
Julie was the recipient of a 2012 Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship. Her short fiction has won honorable mention in the 2010 Lorian Hemingway Short Story Contest and has been published in Columbia Magazine. Also a physician, she has published creative nonfiction in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). She earned a B.A. in Literature from Harvard and spent a year studying opera performance at Indiana University in Bloomington, many lifetimes ago.

Jennifer J. Chow
Jennifer J. Chow, a proud member of NATWA II (North American Taiwanese Women’s Association), lives near Los Angeles but has extended family in Taiwan. She has written nonfiction posts about Taiwan for online blogs, including We Said Go Travel. Her Taiwanese-American novel, The 228 Legacy, was a 2013 IndieFab Finalist from Foreword Reviews.

Please register here so we can get a proper headcount.

Cost: Free
RSVP: Please RSVP to the right.
Contact: John Wang, john@post.harvard.edu

[HAAAA Boston] 01/25/15 Wintersession Mentorship Tea

Submitted by tonyhung on Wed, 2015-01-28 07:08

Last Sunday, before the blizzard set in, H4A Boston hosted a Wintersession Mentorship Tea.  We had 50+ students from the college paired up with alumni from the Boston area.  It was a chance for students to learn and get advice from professionals in varying fields of interests and for mentors to give back to the Harvard community.  

See some pictures from the event on H4A's facebook site

https://www.facebook.com/groups/530910080355181/

The 3 hour event was hosted at Harvest Restaurant in Harvard Square with generous sponsorship from Athena Healthcare.  

Website back online

Submitted by haaaa on Sat, 2015-01-17 01:51

Apologies for the extended website outage over the holidays.  The old server went down just before the holidays, and the IT staff where the machine is hosted (for free) was off until the new year.  We're back online now!

[HAAAA Boston] 11/20 Free Evening @ ISG Musuem + 11/21 Harvard-Yale Pre Game

Submitted by tonyhung on Tue, 2014-11-11 06:41
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Hello from Boston! We have a couple of events right around Harvard-Yale. 

-11/20.  Free Evening and Tour at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (RSVP required)

-11/21.  Harvard-Yale Pre Game at the Kong. 10pm!

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We're thrilled to offer up a terrific event this month at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Join us on Thursday November 20th at 6:00pm for an evening of art, architecture, and music! 25 H4A members who RSVP will receive free admission to the Gardner's After Hours event and students with valid Harvard ID can receive free admission. There also will be a number of small private group tours will be led by Yugon Kim (M.Arch '04) who oversaw the design and construction of the new Gardner expansion with Renzo Piano Building Workshop. 

Of course, feel free to just enjoy the museum, catch up with friends, and make new connections! There will be a cash bar at the museum. http://www.gardnermuseum.org/calendar/events/5895

Please RSVP at the link below to ensure free admission. 

http://goo.gl/forms/rjqxHqVtUs

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For people in town Friday night for Harvard-Yale.  Mitchell is helping us host a Pre-Game Dancing and Drinks at the Hong Kong.  Friday November 21th at 10:00pm.  Please RSVP on Facebook here. 

http://on.fb.me/1tCoL0d

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Welcome the new members of the HAAAA Board of Directors

Submitted by haaaa on Mon, 2014-10-27 23:16

The HAAAA Board is pleased to announce our new Board of Directors. Although additional nominations were made during our open nomination period, after discussion and vetting the nominees opted to participate in more focused areas. We are therefore delighted to induct our proposed slate.

 

Directors attend a quarterly teleconference and are responsible for: 1) providing broad vision and goals to the executive committee; 2) determining the budget and approving any major financial transactions; 3) electing the executive committee biannually; 4) reviewing the performance of the executive committee.

 

Please welcome:

Five Director positions to expire in 2015: 
Alex J. Lee AB '06 AM '06
Ed Park (re-election) AB '97
Jeannie Park AB '83
Bill Yao AB '90
Eric Yeh (re-election) AB '98 SM '98

 

Four Director positions to expire in 2016
Amy Chu MBA '99
Monica Lee AB '88
Mukesh Prasad AB '93
T.K. Yang (re-election) AB '98

[HAAAA Boston] Boston Pan-Ivy Mixer October 2nd

Submitted by tonyhung on Tue, 2014-09-23 07:35
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Fall is here! Come meet fellow Asian American Alumni in the Boston area. Make new friends. See old friends. Welcome the new group of alumni who have come to Boston!

@ Alibi in Liberty Hotel (close to Charles/MGH stop on Red Line)
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1wxVzeG

Event is co-hosted by Asian American Alumni networks of Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, and Princeton.
Cornell Asian Alumni Association (CAAA): http://bit.ly/ItHESS
Dartmouth Asian Pacific American Alumni Association (DAPAAA):http://bit.ly/1c9F5Ru
Harvard Asian American Alumni Alliance (HAAAA): http://bit.ly/18p690k
Asian American Alumni Association of Princeton (A4P): http://bit.ly/IhXkJv

Register for the 2014 Harvard Asian Alumni Summit!

Submitted by akatsuka on Wed, 2014-07-02 13:07

The Second Harvard Asian Alumni Summit promises to be even bigger and better than the hugely successful Inaugural Summit in 2010, which drew more than 400 students, faculty, staff and alumni—who came from multiple continents, seven decades of graduation classes and every Harvard University school.


Check out the 2014 Summit website for the event schedule, speaker profiles, travel information, and more!

 

Don't miss out! Events at the Inaugural Summit sold out in advance.

Register now and receive early-bird discounts!

 

Banner for Harvard Asian Alumni Summit 2014

Pictures and Followup: H4A Spring Reunion 2014

Submitted by tonyhung on Mon, 2014-06-02 14:47
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What a beautiful Saturday we had!  It was great to meet everyone at the Spring Reunion in Lowell House, and thank you all for showing up and making the event such a fantastic success!  Our best estimate is that we had over 130+ people come through to meet, mingle, and catch-up with friends of H4A. 

We've been loading photos taken at the event to our Flickr account  The full set is here:
You can also see some of them posted on H4A's facebook
On behalf of the H4A Boston chapter, I would like to thank Bill Yao, our President, for their support from H4A International, Vinod Nambudiri for helping us secure the Lowell House space, Lowell House Masters Diana Eck and Dorothy Austin, our volunteers from the College: Jesse Cheng, Bryan Li, and Denis Nguyen, and the outstanding work from everyone in the Reunion Host Committee.  
To finish, here are some important announcements made at the Reunion:
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Join us for the 2014 Harvard Asian Alumni Summit

October 24-26, 2014

Cambridge, MA

 

Mark your calendar for our second summit to be held in Cambridge on October 24-26th.  This Summit promises to be just as exciting as our inaugural meeting in 2010, which drew over 400 alumni & faculty from around the world. We are planning panels on entertainment, education, healthcare, social impact and entrepreneurship, and have invited leaders in these fields.  We will, once again, have the Elevate pitch competition and something new: a celebration honoring Harvard’s Asian athletes. We want to extend a warm welcome to all our fellow alumni—as well as faculty, administrators and students—to join us. 

Bookmark our website for news & updates http://summit2014.haaaa.net/ 

If you're interested in helping with the planning committee or want to be a class rep please contact us at summit-volunteer@haaaa.net.

For general questions please contact us at summit@haaaa.net

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Apply to the HAAAA ELEVATE Startup Competition!

Applications will open July 1. There will be 2 tracks: For-profit and social entrepreneurship. Semi-finalists will be selected mid-Sep to video pitch to a VC panel. Finalists will pitch live Sat, Oct 25th at the global HAAAA Summit

Prizes include over $10,000 in cash prizes, free workspace, and more

Eligibility: At least one member of start-up team must be a Harvard Asian alum, student or staff member 
Sponsored by Samsung, WeWork, Reitler Kailas & Rosenblatt
Email Amy Wu (Harvard '09), amytongwu@gmail.com for more information
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My Asian or Asian American Story

A Competition to identify and highlight the best storytellers of Asian or Asian American descent.  Best stories to be told during HAAAA Summit Oct 25.  

$1000 cash prize to winner.  Runner up prizes too. Submissions due by Oct 1 2014 in writing or by video.   Finalists to audition by Skype around Oct 15 2014. 

For more info, contact mitchell.l.dong@gmail.com
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