The Asian Student Council is undertaking goals this year to unify the

September 29, 2025 admin 0 Comments

The Asian Student Council is undertaking goals this year to unify the Asian student body with the various Asian organizations as well as reach out to the University by collaborating with several volunteering organizations.
“We’re here for the Asian organizations, but we’re not trying to separate ourselves from the rest of the world,” said Dhara Patel, the president of the ASC. “We’re all about diversity and unity, so why would we segregate ourselves? We want to bring in other organizations and work with them.”
The ASC hosts biweekly meetings at the Asian American Cultural Center on Livingston campus.
“We can talk about anything there,” said Patel, a School of Environmental and Biological Sciences junior. “For example, in most Asian cultures, parents can be closed-minded and avoid talking about certain topics. We want to open up the world to [their children].”
The council held an event called “Let’s Talk About It,” which focused specifically on these issues.
“There were four different discussion groups talking about their experiences,” Patel said. “It was such a comfortable environment and even after we ran out of time, everyone stayed just to talk.”
They are also planning an event to bring in various organizations including Teach For America to introduce different career possibilities after graduation.
“It’s not as much of a cultural thing as it is political,” Patel said. “We encourage Asian-American activism, and we’re all about speaking up and following your beliefs. Our message is: whatever you want to do in life, don’t shy away from it — get up and do it!”
Asian-Americans are in the lowest percentile among voter representatives, said Matthew Chan, the Rutgers University Student Assembly representative for the ASC.
“Our events are geared towards political awareness and issues that affect our day-to-day lives. We try to aim at the bigger world issue,” said Chan, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore.
The council has planned a panel discussing stereotypes to address any issues the Asian community may have, he said.
“We’re also bringing in two speakers who are prominent in their fields to talk about activism and becoming involved,” Chan said.
Chan said there has been a lack of communication within the Asian community, but the council has been taking steps to fix that.
“We work closely with the Asian-American leadership to try to bring them more together,” he said.
Jessica Leung, programming chair of the ASC, said one of the goals of the meetings was to have a place for people to communicate.
“We’re the umbrella organization of all the Asian clubs,” said Leung, a Rutgers Business School junior. “We bring out all the Asian clubs to come out and meet, and we try to address any stereotypes and break them.”
On top of maintaining a government over the many different Asian organizations, the ASC also strives to collaborate with the rest of the University.
“We usually do a lot of community service because it’s something that brings everyone together,” Patel said. “Since there is so much more to Rutgers and our community in New Brunswick than the Asian aspect, we try our best to participate with student volunteering organizations.”
The council’s past community service has benefited groups such as homeless shelters, bus drivers and University staff.
“We do a [peanut butter and jelly] drive every year,” Leung said. “This year we’re thinking about doing a blanket drive as well. We want to help out and reach out as much as we can.”
Between acting as a liaison for Asian groups and as a representative of them, the ASC has kept its initiative clear.
“Our goal is to get people from other cultures to learn more new things,” Leung said. “We all know that there’s more to people than what you can see. We want to open peoples’ minds up to the different cultures around them.”