Rice Paper

A semi-annual publication of Indiana University’s Asian Culture Center Fall 2008 Issue

Three in One Celebration:

ACC 10th Anniversary; Honoring Judge Michael Witte,
Recipient of IU Distinguished Asian Alumni Award;
Launching Asian American Studies Program at IU
by Ayesha Awan
On Friday, October 3rd, more volunteers and staff from the ACC, Vietnamese and Indian music by
than 300 students, alumni, staff, Poon and Nguyen had been working Jason Nguyen, a Northwestern
and distinguished guests gathered since January, planning every Chinese folk song played on the
in Alumni Hall at the Indiana detail of the banquet. “The 10th Er-hu by IU alumnus James Yang;
Memorial Union to commemorate Anniversary is really a celebration a colorful and vibrant Indian dance
the 10th Anniversary of the Indiana for those who helped make the ACC performed by IU student Ruchi
University Asian Culture Center. a reality and to those who continue Shah; A Mongolian Folk song sung
IU Alumni Paul Park and to do so,” Poon said. “If it weren’t by Ochmaa Dasheveg-Escue; an
Daisy Rodriguez emceed the for students working year after year Indonesian Pendet Dance performed
program. They were selected for to create a successful cultural center, by Erin Wilson; and a Samulnori
their advocacy and dedication we wouldn’t be able to provide the Percussion piece led by Jinsob
towards providing a voice for the services we do today.” Choi.
Asian & Pacific Islander community The evening consisted of an The night also marked the
during their time as students at IU. Asian-inspired three course meal, official launching of the Asian
The ACC Graduate Assistant while guests were entertained by American Studies program at IU.
Mai-Lin Poon and ACC Staff multiple cultural performances The program will offer a minor for
member Thien Nguyen served as co- representing diverse Asian heritages. IU students in 2009. The Dean of
chairs for the event. Together with The performances included a
Acc 10th (Continued on Page 2)

Ruchi Shah performs an elegant Indian IU Trustee Pat Shoulders Provost Karen Hanson remarks
Dance to Barso Re at the ACC 10th discusses the service that the on the success of the ACC at the
Anniversary Banquet Celebration ACC has done for IU and the 10th Anniversary Banquet.
Bloomington community.
 Rice Paper
Note From the Director
Melanie Castillo-Cullather
When we announced the 10th anniversary
celebration early this year, we received many emails and
phone calls from alumni, who during their time at IU made
the center their home. It was a bit nostalgic to hear from
the alumni with whom I worked so closely and who have
become a part of our lives, in essence our family. They
talked about their careers, their partners, their children and
their fond memories of IU. They are scattered all over the
country and the world. Thanks to email, keeping in touch
with many of them has been much easier.
There are many reasons to celebrate the 10 years of
the Asian Culture Center on the IU Bloomington campus;
the formation of the IU Asian Alumni Association, the
establishment of the Asian American Studies Program,
the unwavering support and activism of student groups
to help build and promote an inclusive and diverse IU,
and the creation of the many cultural and educational
programs that make the center a great resource for both
IU and the community beyond Sample Gates. All these,
of course would not have been possible without the
passion and tireless dedication of former and current staff
members of the ACC, the student leaders who worked
hard juggling their school work and their commitments
to their organizations and to the causes that benefit the
entire campus. We are indebted to so many individuals
and organizations on campus and in the Bloomington
community that have supported what we do. Their notes
of advice, suggestions, emails, and phone calls telling us
how much they enjoyed a program have been a source of
inspiration. We will always be grateful for the financial
support from alumni, community members, and IU
departments, whose support has allowed us to explore,
create, and continue to organize events that celebrate and
honor the Asian heritage and events that challenge ideas
and morals.
It is our dream that in the next ten years, the center
will grow and expand in size and in its capacity to address
and meet the needs of the 26 Asian and Asian American
student groups, the 36,000 IU students, faculty, staff, and
the community beyond Sample Gates. We are hopeful that
with your enthusiasm and commitment for great learning
and changing people’s lives for the better, we can meet
these goals.  program at IU.
Page 2
Acc 10th (Continued from Cover)
the College of Arts & Sciences, Bennett Bertenthal,
officially announced the program along with Dr.
Joan Linton, who will serve as its interim director.
Mai-Lin Poon said of the new program, “I am very
thrilled that this has become a reality and encourage
students to start signing up for classes. I wish I had
this possibility when I was an undergraduate!”
Jessica Kim, President of the IU Asian Alumni
Association, presented the 2008 Distinguished Asian
Alumni Award to the Honorable Judge Michael Witte,
the first Asian-American trial judge in Indiana. In
addition, the ceremony included prominent members
of the Administration including IU Chancellor
Kenneth Gros Louis, Dean of Students Dick McKaig,
Vice President and Provost Karen Hanson, Dean of
the School of Journalism Brad Hamm, IU Trustee
Pat Shoulders, and Vice President for the IU Alumni
Association, John Hobson. There was also a video
slideshow narrating the ACC’s decade of service
to the IU community. The program ended with the
guests dancing and celebrating the event.
Melanie Castillo-Cullather, director of the
ACC, said of the occasion, “the ACC has demonstrated
to IU the importance of a cultural center and its role in
recruiting students, and in achieving IU’s educational
mission.” The Center hopes to expand in the future so
that it may provide even more dedicated service as an
integral part of the lives of Asian American students
and the IU community.
Chancellor Kenneth Gros Dean Bennett Bertanthal
Louis giving a speech about the announces the establishment
history of the ACC. of the Asian American Studies
 Rice Paper Page 3

Student Group Updates

Asian Student Union
The Asian Student Union (ASU) has continued to work to get the
Asian Culture Center expansion project underway. Started a few years
ago by ASU board members Tony Truong, Evita Luminto, U Ta Looi,
and Alfred Ma, the project is ready to submit its official proposal for
a bigger center. Current ASU advocacy chairs, Kimberly Sarabia and
Andrew Jin, along with chairman Brandon Tran, have been working
diligently on completing the proposal. The ASU hopes that the proposal
will be accepted and the dream of bigger Asian Culture Center will fi-
nally be realized.
This semester the ASU worked on a multi-group Moon Festival and
Halloween party, in addition to helping the ACC on its annual leadership
retreat and Electring Kulintang concert. Next semester, the ASU will
be working with other organizations to co-host collaborative events such as the semi-formal, sports tournament,
Asian Alumni Association Scholarship fundraiser, the 9th annual Mr. & Ms. Asia, and the APIA U Leadership
Workshop. For more information about the ASU please visit their website at www.indiana.edu/~asu.

Asian American Association

This semester, the Asian American Association (AAA) held its
own mini welcome week to attract returning and new students at IU. It
included a call-out meeting, ice cream social, Make-It-Yourself Bubble
Tea, Game Day, and Executive Board Elections. It also co-sponsored
the Hutton Honors College’s Origami Workshop. In the spirit of autumn
and Halloween, it held its annual pumpkin carving event. This month
the AAA will be having its annual fall Fashion Show, which consists of
cultural performances, a variety of talents by students on the IU campus,
and a display of cultural clothing. This year, it is also helping to build the
registry for bone marrow donations. The AAA will also join in the Sigma
Excursion week hosted by Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. with a panel
discussion on Western Standards of Beauty on November 13th.

Indian Student Association

The Indian Student Association recently held its annual Gar-
ba Night to celebrate Navaratri. Garba is a traditional form of spiritual
Indian dance in which participants dance in a circular movement. Dur-
ing part of the event, a type of dance, called Raas or Dandiya Raas, is
performed. In Raas, participants hold sticks in their hands and hit them
rhythmically against other dancer’s sticks while they dance to create a vi-
brant sound. The next event held by the Indian Student Association will
be a Diwali banquet dinner for the festival of lights, which represents the
victory of good over evil.
 Rice Paper Page 4

The ACC Graduate Assistants- The Engine

Behind the ACC Powerhouse
by Ayesha Awan
Shawn Chen
Shawn Chen worked as the the deputy managing editor of Nationaljournal.com before
taking on a position as the online news editor for the Associated Press Bureau in Washington, D.C. in 2007. He
has been volunteering at the Washington Literacy Council for 6 years, where he teaches adults how to read and
write. He also promotes Asian American Culture through film at the Washington Asian Pacific American Film
Festival. His favorite memories of the ACC come from a time when the center was a new entity on campus. “Lit-
erally,” he says, “we were looking at a blank slate on which to build our center.” He is proud of all the programs
the ACC established that year, including the Over a Cup of Tea series and the Rice Paper Newsletter, but describes
his favorite moments at the center as the “mundane ones.” He appreciated the fact that Asian American students
had a place where they could stop by and call their own. As for the future, Shawn hopes that the students on cam-
pus will “take full advantage of the center to further their own interest in Asian and Asian American culture or
to help foster their own activism for the improvement of IU as a whole.” He also wants to see programs that will
help prepare students for future roles as leaders, organizers, and activists.

Maysee Yang Herr

Maysee Yang Herr served as the ACC GA from 2001 to 2003. After graduating, she
taught elementary school classes at the Center for Inquiry, School #2 in Indianapolis for
three years. She is currently in her first year of teaching at the School of Education at the
University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point. Maysee fondly recalls her first meeting with
Melanie Castillo-Cullather, director of the ACC and with Meeyoung Kim, “they were
extremely welcoming and caring during a time when I needed it the most,” Maysee
says. She proudly remembers two major accomplishments of the ACC and Asian Amer-
ican Community at IU during her time as the GA – the founding of the Asian Alumni
Association and the starting of the Asian American Graduate Association. For Maysee,
the ACC’s 10th Anniversary, “marks a milestone of tremendous accomplishments and
hardwork that are worth celebrating. So much has been established and many lives have
been positively impacted as a result of ACC’s existence. It’s time to step back, reflect,
and take pride in all that the ACC has been able to make possible, both as individuals as well as a community. I
see the ACC continuing to serve as a model for other university campuses to learn from and emulate over the next
several years.”

Theresa Chen Theresa Chen served as the ACC GA from 2003 to 2004. After receiving
her Masters of Public Affairs in Policy Analysis from Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental
Affairs in 2004, Theresa was hired by the United States Government Accountability Office. After working there
for three years, she relocated to the city of Hyderabad in south central India, where she currently works directing
“large-scale evaluation of bundling health insurance with microfinance loans.” Theresa’s favorite part of working
at the ACC was her interaction with the many students who were involved with the center, many of whom she is
still in touch with today. She views the ACC’s 10th Anniversary as a marking of the success of the center – “My
hopes for the Center are for it to continue to grow and support innovative programming for the students, the cam-
pus, and the community.”
Graduate Assistants (Continued on Page 5)
 Rice Paper Page 5

Graduate Assistants (Continued from Page 4)

Cheng-yi Liu Following his graduation from IU’s law school in 2006, Cheng Liu moved to Wash-
ington, D.C. where he now works as a telecommunications lawyer. He humorously
describes his job as “a piece of cake compared to being the ACC GA.” Cheng fondly
remembers how the ACC events often managed to include food in some way. “Yes,
I love food,” he says. “I even demonstrated how to make some at one of the ACC’s
cooking demonstration events. I think I made quite a mess. After I made the food
I demonstrated how to eat it. That’s the part I’m better at.” Cheng views the ACC
10th Anniversary as a perfect example of what students can accomplish when they
really dedicate themselves to something. He recalls many students not wanting to be
involved with the center because they felt they would leave in a few years anyway. In
the future, he would like to see even more students involved with the ACC. He hopes
“that students will see the ACC not just as a service provided by IU but really as a vehicle or mechanism that they
can utilize to accomplish great and lasting things on campus.”

Wendy Ho
Wendy Ho was the ACC GA from 2006 to 2007. Following her graduation from the
School of Public and Environmental Affairs in 2007, Wendy was selected for a legisla-
tive fellowship with the Asian and Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies
(APAICS). As part of her job she was placed in the office of Congressman Mike Honda
of California, where she worked managing Congressman Honda’s language access,
Homeland Security, and Asian American & Pacific Islander issue portfolios. Wendy
currently works as a State Policy Analyst for the Asian & Pacific Islander American
Health Forum (APIAHF). One of Wendy’s favorite memories of working with the ACC
was when she was the co-emcee of the Filipino Student Association’s first ever Filipino
Night in 2007. She also remembers cheering on the first Asian male and female teams
in the Little 500 Race, “that was a very proud moment for us at the ACC,” she says. For
Wendy the ACC 10th Anniversary “is the culmination of years of hard work and deter-
mination to build a visible Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPIs) presence at IU. The anniversary celebrates
the vision of the ACC’s founders who wanted to create a space for AAPIs on campus to not only celebrate their
rich cultural heritage but learn more about it.” Her hope for the future is that the center can expand; she believes
that with a bigger space the ACC can provide more programs and serve even more people in the community than
it already does.

Lori Kido Lopez

After graduating from IU, Lori Kido Lopez enrolled in a PhD program at the University of
Southern California, where she is currently studying race and gender in the media. She was
also married recently. Lori’s favorite part of working at the ACC was working on establish-
ing an Asian American studies program. “It was such an important accomplishment for the
University, and I think that having an educational foundation for the study of Asian America
will really strengthen the mission and goals of the ACC,” she says. Lori fondly remembers
working with the Asian American Association and all the students she met at the ACC. She
hopes that the center will continue its tradition of advocacy in the Asian American commu-
nity, and that future students will bear in mind the history of the center and continue to take
on even bigger issues in the community.

Graduate Assistants (Continued on Page 6)

 Rice Paper Page 6

Graduate Assistants (Continued from Page 5)

Mai-Lin Poon
Mai-Lin Poon is our current Graduate Assistant at the ACC. After she finishes her
studies in the Counseling and Counselor Education Master’s Program, she plans to get
her Education Specialist Degree in the same program. She then plans to find work in a
mental healthcare facility and may return to school later to obtain a doctorate degree.
One of Mai-Lin’s invaluable contributions to the ACC has been her work with the
ACC’s 10th Anniversary Celebration. She was co-chair for the 10th Anniversary Ban-
quet along with undergraduate student, Thien Nguyen. Mai-Lin says the banquet was
“quite a memorable event, especially because a lot of alumni were there who were
integral in getting the ACC to become a reality. My undergraduate university didn’t
have an ACC to call home, so to listen to the speakers relating the history of the ACC
was really touching.” She says the thing she will miss most about the ACC are the
people, because “the ACC is just a house, but the people make it feel like a home. When you work with the ACC
you become a part of this close knit family where people care about you and want to see you succeed.” Mai-Lin
hopes to see the ACC expand in the next few years because the popularity of the programs requires more and
more space, and she looks forward to see the ACC’s progress in the next 10 years!

APIA U is Coming to IU February 7!!

by Mai-Lin Poon
The Organization of Chi- to become catalysts for change by hopes to build bridges between stu-
nese Americans (OCA) has chosen empowering them to develop their dent groups, foster a sense of unity,
the IU Asian Culture Center to be a identities as strong APIA leaders and camaraderie while striving to
host school for Asian/Pacific Island- and advocates. This training also impact others.
er American College Leadership
Training this coming February 7!
This will be the first time that APIA
U will be hosted in Indiana; former
host sites include Cornell Univer-
sity, Boston College, U Penn, and
Yale University. APIA student lead-
ers from colleges and universities
all over Indiana and nearby States
will be invited to take part in this
intensive training. APIA U: Leader-
ship 101 is a hands on program that
concentrates on the development of
leadership and organization skills
that are pertinent to all campuses
and communities. Student lead-
ers will participate in workshops
focused on self-awareness, team
building, and taking action. The
training hopes to give students tools
Rice Paper
Judge Michael Witte shares a poignant story about
his mother while accepting the Distinguished Asian
Alumni Award.
Erin Wilson gracefully performs Pendet, a
traditional Balinese Hindo welcoming dance.
Filipino Student Association and Vietnamese
Student Association celebrating the ACC’s 10th
Anniversary in style.
Our happy ACC family
Page 7
Spring 2009 Events
Details to follow on our website www.indiana.edu~acc
Date: Saturday, January 31, 2009
Asian Cultures Around Campus presents Lunar New Year Celebration
Time: 2 to 4 p.m.
Venue: Monroe County Public Library Auditorium and Meeting Rooms
February 7-8, 2009
APIA U 101 Leadership Conference hosted by Organization of
Chinese Americans in cooperation with IU Asian Culture Center
February, 2009
ACC’s Over A Cup of Tea presents: “The Year of Michi Weglyn”
March 5, 2009
Lecture and Performance by Magdalen Hsu Li
April 2, 2009
ACC’s Over A Cup of Tea presents “A Conversation with Jenny
8 Lee, New York Times Reporter and Author of Fortune Cookie
More events in April to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
Check out ACC’s Regular Events on www.indiana.edu/~acc
Over A Cup of Tea Monthly Discussion Forum is a monthly forum
on issues affecting Asian Pacific Americans. Guest speakers are
often invited to present their expertise on particular subjects and to
facilitate discussions.
Who Are Asian Pacific Americans? A bi-monthly roundtable lunch
discussion that allows students and community members to talk
about specific topics such as: APA identity, misconceptions, model
minority myth, APA and media representation, bi-racial culture, and
others. Light lunch provided to participants.
Asian Language Learning Program offering free informal
language classes every week.
Weekly Asian Games featuring GO and Mahjong Every Friday.
Great way to end the week and learn something new.
Asian Cultures Around Campus is an on-going series of performances
and/or instructional demonstrations featuring student talents as well
as homegrown and renowned artists outside of Bloomington.
Members of the IU Asian Alumni posing with Distinguished
Alumni Award Recipient, Judge Michael Witte
Rice Paper
Indiana University
Asian Culture Center
807 E. 10th Street
Bloomington, IN 47408

APA Heritage Month Fund

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month is cele-
brated at Indiana University in April of each year.
The Asian Culture Center sponsors and co-sponsors
several programs during the month-long celebra-
tion, including film screenings, keynote speakers,
discussion forums, and many more. These programs
are provided free to the public. With your help we
can continue providing quality programs year after
year. Your financial assistance will go a long way in
supporting this significant celebration. 2008-2009 Asian Culture Center Student Assistants:
(L-R) Ayesha, Mai-Lin, Kavita, Vincent, Thien, Elise,
If you would like to contribute to the APA Heritage and Adrianne
Month Fund please make your checks payable to IU
Foundation and indicate APA Heritage Month in Director: Melanie Castillo-Cullather
the memo. Please send to: Program and Admin Assistant: HaeSook Park
Graduate Assistant: Mai-Lin Poon
Asian Culture Center Layout and Design: Elise Magno
807 E. 10th Street
Bloomington, IN 47408 ACC Contact Information:
(812)856-5361 • acc@indiana.edu
http://www.indiana.edu/~acc/
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