Alfred Yi
School & Year: Pomona College, 2018
Committees: AAMP
Majors/Minors: Media Studies
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
I hope to engage in community work to foster community on campus and contribute to the dismantling of existing systematic barriers, explore intersectional identities, and provide the platform to center our allies and their voices.
What do you do outside of the AARC?
I play the bassoon in the Pomona College Orchestra and am a co-head mentor of AAMP
Alison Choi
School & Year: Pomona College, 2019
Majors/Minors: History
Committees: ACCESS, Production
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
I am excited to be a part of the AARC community and dedicate my time to initiatives that address intersectional issues, and are cognizant of complexities within Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. I also want to work towards greater inclusivity and accessibility of the AARC, especially for those who are not directly connected to the AARC or its programs.
What do you do outside of the AARC?
I’m a student representative on the President’s Advisory Committee on Diversity (PACD), and I’m a PAYS (Pomona College Academy for Youth Success) college advisor! I also like to go on runs and post on AARC’s Instagram story!
Camille Sanchez
School & Year: Pomona College, 2019
Majors/Minors: Major: Public Policy Analysis (concentration in Economics); Minors: Chinese, Art
Committees: SEACOM, Production
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
I intend to focus on narratives that aren’t really talked about. I also hope to bring in more folks from all the Claremont Colleges into the space and our programming.
What do you do outside of the AARC?
I’m involved with Kasama (the Filipinx students group at the 5Cs), PAYS as a college advisor, and the Admissions and Financial Aid Committee through ASPC. For fun, I watch YouTube videos, read webcomics, draw/paint, and bake sweets.
Emagene Pham
School & Year: Scripps College, 2019
Majors/Minors: Science and Management
Committees: AdBoard
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
Presence, support, and energy
What do you do outside of the AARC?
I am a gen chem lab TA, and I enjoy playing IM basketball and volleyball.
Heidi Yuan
School & Year: Pomona College, 2018
Majors/Minors: Molecular Biology
Committees: ACCESS, STEP
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
Leadership and laughter!
What do you do outside of the AARC?
Draper Center Student Coordinator for ESL & CBRL
Jesal Patel
School & Year: Pomona College, 2018
Majors/Minors: Majoring in PPE with a minor in Asian American Studies
Committees: I am one of the Head Mentors of the Asian American Mentor Program (AAMP) and the 7C Asian American Advisory Board Liaison for AAMP.
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
I intend to foster a loving and productive community between the AARC and AAMP. Through this, I hope to help organize events and workshops that develop the political consciousness of people on campus while challenging the dominant narrative.
What do you do outside of the AARC?
Although most of my extra time is devoted to the AARC, AAMP, and their missions, I am also involved in a few other things. Every week I participate in citizenship coaching for folx in the Monterey Park community through LAMP. I also play multiple intramural sports and love to hang out with my friends. 🙂
Justina Wu
School & Year: Pomona College, 2019
Majors/Minors: Major: Media Studies, Minor: Asian American Studies
Committees: RISE (ReImagining Social Expectations)
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
I hope to help create a more survivor-centered space at the AARC while finding ways to confront rape culture in our communities on campus.
What do you do outside of the AARC?
I am a Pomona Student Union board member. In my free time, I watch TV/films and play around with digital art.
Lam Huynh
School & Year: Harvey Mudd College, 2018
Majors/Minors: Major in Engineering and HSA Concentration in Psychology
Committees: SEACOM, Production
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
Community, mostly because the AARC was the first space in 5Cs that I felt I truly belonged and cared for. The people that are in it, the conversations held there, the actions taken as a collective–I simply found this space to be beautiful. I want to be part of this community so I can contribute to it, and also use my position to bring in campus leaders from the other colleges to get involved as well.
What do you do outside of the AARC?
I am an APISPAM sponsor, involved with the 5C Vietnamese Student Association, and one of the leaders for Project Decode (Mudd’s 1st gen/low income program). Other hobbies I have are anime, cooking, hype fashion, and just spending time with people who are important to me 🙂 My greatest passion though is dance, particularly the street, urban, and hip hop styles of dance! I’m involved with Groove Nation Dance Crew, and I recently started up the 5C Freestyle Sessions to cultivate a freestyle dance community for Claremont and the surrounding areas.
Lauren Su
School & Year: Pomona College, 2019
Majors/Minors: Neuroscience major, Spanish and Asian American Studies minor
Committees: ACCESS, STEP
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
I hope to bring my experiences into the work I do at the AARC while highlighting the wealth of narratives within our communities. I also want to help make the AARC a warm and inviting space and foster more dialogue on campus.
What do you do outside of the AARC?
I work in a neuroscience lab at Pomona that looks at stress in relation to learning and memory, and I have been helping to organize a resource fair and legal clinic in the city of Pomona this semester. I’m also involved in Rooftop Garden and ESL through the Draper Center. In my free time I love to watch TV, hang out with friends, Facetime my cat, eat Doritos, and daydream about North Carolina restaurants :~)
Michael Ko
School & Year: Pomona College, 2018
Majors/Minors: Chemistry
Committees: STEP, Production
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
I intend on helping foster a close-knit community with the API community on campus by working to make the AARC’s work for accessible. I also hope to use the AARC’s and Pomona College’s resources to help give back to the local Tongan community through my work at STEP.
What do you do outside of the AARC?
I play the clarinet for the Pomona College Orchestra and like to play intramural sports with friends. I’m really into headphones and listen to music a lot (usually hip-hop of kpop). Also a big fan of manga/anime. When I’m on my board I tend to have tunnel vision, but feel free to say hi if you see me around.
Natasha Anis
School & Year: Pomona College, 2019
Majors/Minors: English and Politics Double Major
Committees: CSAV, SOC
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
I’m so excited to be an AARC intern this year! I see the space as one of both exploration of our own AAPI identities as well as a space of centering those communities that are generally marginalized in favor of more visible AAPI identities. This semester CSAV is working on this kind of realignment, breaking down the overly broad term “South Asian” and trying to center different aspects of South Asian identity. Additionally, through my work with SOC, we are trying to offer support to other organizing campaigns across the 5Cs and show up for other POC communities.
What do you do outside of the AARC?
Outside of the AARC I am involved with Prison Abolition organizing, as well as drug policy reform. I am a member of the Los Angeles chapter of Critical Resistance. I am also a geek about writing, and work at the Pomona’s Writing Center. Talk to me about literature, public policy around the Prison Industrial Complex, and the impending revolution 🙂
Peter Te-young Cha
School & Year: Pomona College, 2019
Majors/Minors: Double majoring in Asian American Studies and Sociology
Committees: STEP, SOC
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
I really like to meet people and talk story. My hope is that I can make the AARC, and AAPI issues in general, more approachable through conversation.
What do you do outside of the AARC?
In my free time I like to learn new guitar songs, play DOTA 2, practice basketball, read, and drink coffee with my stuffed cat Kity (pictured).
Rachel Song
School & Year: Pomona College, 2018
Majors/Minors: Psychology (major) and Asian American Studies (minor)
Committees: AAMP!
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
Compassion, empathy, and a growth mindset (and a pipeline of new student leaders and AARC interns through AAMP)
What do you do outside of the AARC?
Groove Nation co-captain, Psych department student liaison
Rafael Velasco
School & Year: Claremont McKenna College, 2019
Majors/Minors: Neuroscience
Committees: ACCESS and Production
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
The student leaders that I looked up to and were the guiding forces that pushed me to question myself and society were AARC interns. They somehow were able to touch a CMCer like me, and I plan on continuing that legacy! So my mission is to build a stronger relationship with CMC and the AARC. The programming at the AARC has helped shape me to the person that I am today, and I want the AARC to reach an audience that normally isn’t present. I encourage everyone to bring a friend that usually doesn’t hang around the AARC at our future events!
What do you do outside of the AARC?
Outside of the AARC, I am an APAM mentor, a CARE center fellow, a member of KASAMA, and a leader in CMC’s first-gen club, 1Gen. During my free time, I like to workout, listen to Marshmello, GoldLink, and Travis, longboard, and take pictures of my friends doing dumb things.
Rhian Moore
School & Year: Pomona College, 2018
Majors/Minors: Music Major, Biology Minor
Committees: SEACOM and SOC
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
I hope to strengthen the AAPI student community’s presence on campus – especially that of Southeast Asian students – and provide programming that gives AAPI folx a voice, a way to become active and engaged in social issues, and a sense of belonging.
What do you do outside of the AARC?
Play music, learn new instruments, do graphic design, enthuse about space, wax poetic about boy bands
Sagarika Gami
School & Year: Pomona College, 2018
Majors/Minors: Gender & Women’s Studies
Committees: STEP & CSAV
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
Conversations that challenge conceptions about rape culture, sexuality, gendered labour, and productivity, (to name a few)!
What do you do outside of the AARC?
I also work at the Writing Center! But work aside, a big part of my life at Pomona is advocating for survivors of sexual assault and fellow women of colour. These institutions were not made for us, yet we find ways to cope and thrive regardless. I put a lot of labour and love into my communities, while also napping, sitting in the sun, watching Parks & Rec, and eating oreos.
Sahana
School & Year: Scripps College, 2020
Majors/Minors: International Intercultural Studies & Feminist Gender Sexuality Studies Dual Major
Committees: Committee for South Asian Voices, Solidarity and Organizing
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
I intend to bring my perspective as a diasporic South Asian woman to the AARC and its programming. Furthermore, I hope to center QTPoC voices in my work at the AARC. Ultimately, I wish to visibilize all marginalized voices that are subsumed by the label of “Asian American”, and engage in productive positionality work with those identities that must be de-centered for our space to become radically inclusive of all marginalized identities.
What do you do outside of the AARC?
I am a SAMP mentor, PAYS college advisor, writer for Brown Girl Magazine, and student organizer.
Shreya Basu
School & Year: Scripps College, 2019
Majors/Minors: Human Biology (Major) Feminist, Gender, Sexualities Studies (Minor)
Committees: RISE, STEP
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
I want to create an intentional community that centers those underrepresented within the wide AAPI umbrella, to hold myself and my communities accountable, to work towards a collective resistance, and to build solidarity with other marginalized folks outside the AARC. I hope to bring my individual perspective and creativity based on my interests, personal experiences, and identities.
What do you do outside of the AARC?
I am an amateur but I do enjoy art projects and really appreciate art of all forms– I really love taking pictures of my friends, painting, drawing, sewing, and combining different mediums of art. I enjoy running and general outdoor things, sleeping, eating, listening to music, and watching quality TV shows and films (esp good animations). I am a SAMP mentor. I am part of Our Sound, a zine publication at Scripps centered on and created by marginalized folx.
Sujay Singh
School & Year: Pitzer College, 2019
Majors/Minors: (Pre Med)-Neuroscience and Asian American Studies Double Major
Committees: I’m a Head Mentor of the South Asian Mentorship Program and I help out with CSAV and STEP!
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
I intend to center voices of the margins in my committee work and in my work through SAMP—centering South Asian voices of identities often erased from spaces and working to build community support and solidarity. People often don’t discuss South Asian narratives in terms of queerness, class, caste, racial/ethnic and religious diversity—that’s something I hope to have discussions and workshops on at the AARC.
What do you do outside of the AARC?
I am a part of SAMP, do research at the Keck Science Department, am a part of the Chem Club, sing for the acapella group Midnight Echo(catch me at Scamfest!), and watch Rick and Morty or Brooklyn Nine Nine with my suitemates.
Tai Le
School & Year: Pomona College, 2019
Majors/Minors: Mathematics
Committees: SEACOM, Production
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
I intend to put on events that build community on campus and highlight the stories of marginalized groups in the AAPI community. I also hope to bring awareness of the AARC and its resources to admins, staffs, and students of the 5Cs.
What do you do outside of the AARC?
Outside the AARC, I am involved with VSA, PSU, and serve as a volunteer at local hospitals. In my free time, I like discovering new music, playing video games, and trying foods off campus.
Teo
School & Year: Pomona College, 2018
Majors/Minors: Asian American Studies, Sociology/Public Policy
Committees: RISE
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
Tenderness, warmth, vulnerability, joy, love!
What do you do outside of the AARC?
Draper Center – PAYS Coordinator, ASPC Senate – Commissioner of Community Relations, SEEDS (work with Prototypes)
Tran Pham
School & Year: Pomona College, 2019
Majors/Minors: Computer Science Major and Asian American Studies Minor
Committees: RISE Committee and STEP Committee
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
I hope to raise awareness for experiences that are stigmatized and not talked about in the API/A community. I also hope to be a support system for other members of the AARC.
What do you do outside of the AARC?
I am involved with the Vietnamese Student Association and play on the Claremont Colleges Taiko Team. I enjoy listening to EDM and going on off campus trips.
Vy Doan
School & Year: Pomona College, 2018
Majors/Minors: Public Policy Analysis (concentration in Psychology)
Committees: ACCESS, RISE
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
Storytelling & Southeast Asian narratives
What do you do outside of the AARC?
I’m involved with the Vietnamese Student Association and Upward Bound. For fun, I love to bake, paint, and read!
Zichen Liu
School & Year: Pomona College, 2018
Majors/Minors: Chemistry
Committees: ACCESS, RISE
What do you intend to bring to the AARC?
I hope to bring actively listening, empathy, and support as a friend, and intentional and intersectional dialogue as an activist. I hope to bring my own experiences with how being AAPI interacts with gender and mental health, but I also hope to learn more about identities that don’t affect me directly.
What do you do outside of the AARC?
I compete in video game tournaments, write code that does my chemistry research for me, and scooter with one hand since I am holding boba in my other hand.
The Asian American Resource Center 