ASA held a welcome meeting for new members this past week. @ASA_MANHATTAN / INSTAGRAM
Andrew Mannion, Sports Editor
The Asian Student Association (ASA) held their first meeting of the semester on Aug. 28, recapping their successful first year as a club and discussing what’s to come for this academic year.
The ASA has a variety of different events they throw throughout the year. One is the Lunar New Year potluck, a favorite amongst the members. Landing on a date in February around the Lunar New Year, members bring meals that are centered around different Asian cultures. One member of the ASA, Matteo Santonocito, explained how the potluck has become one of his favorite events in the club.
“We weren’t sure how many people were actually going to bring food [to the potluck], but the turnout was incredible,” Santonocito said. “We had students bringing so much food that we had an immense amount of food left over. It’s a great time to get to know a lot of people that I didn’t know around campus, while also trying out different foods I haven’t tried before.”
The current president and founder of the club, Shu Amanuma, has noted the immense growth that the club has undergone as time has passed. The club was originally created with the intention to be a pre-professional and career-oriented club, however, as more members joined, the association quickly grew into a community that celebrated and embraced the different Asian cultures represented around campus.
“The club has grown into a larger and more inclusive community,” Amanuma said. “At the beginning, we started with 20 people on our list, and intended to make the club more of a professional mentoring program, yet we adapted to the needs and opinions of our first members, and turned our activities into a more traditional cultural club.”
The motive behind the ASA is to bring students of Asian descent together and provide a community for minority groups around campus. Sean Li, the association’s treasurer, spoke about how the club has provided him and others with a unique community on campus.
“Having been introduced to this club and being in a setting where I see so many Asians in the same place all at the same time, it really opened my eyes to the delicate and important community that we have,” Li said. “Now that I’m a board member, I’m trying to cherish that more. I try to be kind of like a big brother to incoming freshmen and sophomores who are looking for that kind of community, and help them find that.”
This sense of community was exactly what Amanuma wanted to accomplish when creating the club. She spoke about how she felt as seeing this goal accomplished.
“I sought a community where I could connect with people I felt familiar with, especially as a freshman trying to survive a brand new environment,” Amanuma said. “I felt that a community of people who share similar experiences and perceptions was very important in making that experience positive. The circle of ASA has provided me with a safe environment to share my culture, and is also an opportunity for me to change the experiences for others like myself, with background and connections to Asian countries.”
The ASA has quickly become a large and prominent group on campus with plenty of events for its members to look forward to. Going into this upcoming school year, they have shown excitement for what is to come.