The day-long symposium was “the first major event regarding Southeast Asian Studies at Brown,” according to a written statement by Co-Presidents of the Southeast Asian Studies Initiative Taing Nandi Aung ’19 and Andrew Ton ’20. SEASI organized the event with the Brown University Singaporean Society, Vietnamese Students Association and Filipino Alliance. The event had been in the works since June and has garnered sponsorship from numerous centers within the University.

The symposium convened students and faculty to discuss the current state of Southeast Asian representation within academia and the community at large, the need for coursework dedicated to Southeast Asia and how such a program could be implemented at Brown.

SEASI wanted to “connect students … who want to study Southeast Asia, but don’t have the resources here at Brown to people in the area who are knowledgeable,” Aung told The Herald. Professors, doctoral candidates and student and community activists all spoke during several panels covering a wide range of topics, including issues in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Burma and the Philippines, as well as the United States’ current relationship to its own Southeast Asian population.

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Last year Womack, 38, founded ARISE (Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education) and through her organization, helped launch a pilot course in ethnic studies at Jorge Alvarez High School. The course focuses on the history of Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and the Hmong people. Part of the coursework last spring was to have her 27 students (only five of whom were of Southeast Asian descent) interview “elders,” such as Heng, about their childhood experiences.

“This course is equipping our students to be researchers and historians,” Womack explains. “And, actually teaching them about the Vietnam War and the impact in those Southeast Asian countries that resulted in the resettlement of the largest refugee community in the United States.”

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On May 9th, youth, advocates, educators, and supporters gathered to celebrate ARISE’s impactful first year. “Elevating & Amplifying Student Voice,” showcased the power of our youth, who shared their stories with the audience, as well as planned and emceed the event.

During the evening (and over a delicious dinner from The Lotus Garden), a variety of stakeholders discussed the importance of programs such as ARISE that center and highlight youth voice while building power, social consciousness, revolutionary thinking, and leadership. 

We provided scholarships to 5 different seniors in high school as a way to support their next steps into their future. Our students who received these scholarships are passionate about education as a means for justice in our community. They were each awarded $500 in recognition of the work they are doing in our community and the impact we know they are going to have in the years to come.

We also honored three community advocates for their tireless advocacy and passion for educational justice: Makna Men received the ACCESS VALUE award, Dr. Phitsamay Uy received the EQUITY VALUE, and Jamie Scurry received the SUCCESS VALUE award. All three award recipients embody these core values of ARISE.

Since our organization’s launch a year ago, ARISE has grown substantially, thriving in culturally responsive programming and supports. As highlighted at the event, our work centers the voices of youth throughout our programs, including after-school programming at three Providence high schools. ARISE is organizing an educational justice campaign in partnership with PrYSM and piloting an ethnic studies course at Alvarez High School; we have also implemented a youth leadership council, passed the “All Students Count Act,” and built capacity to support more youth.

We are thankful to the 21 sponsors for their support at this year’s event, including: Roger Williams University, the Nellie Mae Foundation, PrYSM, DARE, Superior Wireless, College Unbound, The Center for Justice, Luxurious Lash, NEA-RI, Capri Seafood, Real Estate with Chanthaly, SEARAC, Rhode Island College, the city of Providence, Neighborhood Health Plan of RI, First Home Mortgage, Pawtucket Credit Union, Bank of America, Bank Newport, Cox, and The Lotus Garden.

Jamie E. Scurry, dean of the School of Continuing Studies at Roger Williams University, received the Success Value Award from the Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education on May 9.

ARISE prepares, promotes and empowers Rhode Island’s Southeast Asian students for educational and career success. Its core values are access, equity and success. In presenting its 2018 ARISE Values Awards, the alliance also gave Makna Men the Access Value Award, and it gave Phitsamay Uy the Equity Value Award.

The Success Value Award recognizes a person committed to working toward getting all students to realize their full potential and to gain skills and core competencies that are important to their holistic development as critical thinkers and doers.

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On Thursday, October 26, ARISE had the honor and privilege of presenting alongside other local and national community leaders at the College Board National Forum on the topic of debunking the Model Minority Myth.  The room was energetic and engaged, and the panelists provided attendees with information that helped them to identify the aspects of the stereotype of the Model Minority Myth, learn more about the current national and local advocacy and policy infrastructure, and understand the emerging systemic and strategic comprehensive supports and interventions needed for Southeast Asian students.  Panelists included Sarath Suong, Executive Director of Providence Youth Student Movement in Rhode Island, Quyen Dinh, Executive Director of the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center in Washington, DC, and Chanda Womack, Executive Director of ARISE.  The session was moderated by Ducha Hang, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs at Salve Regina University. 

It was great to share stories of our SEA students with both post-secondary and higher education staff and administrators! We hope that our session not only provided a new perspective on the different lived experiences of individuals within the 50 different Asian American and Pacific Islander subgroups but that it also provided participants with a framework of how local and national organizations can come together to create policy change that meets the needs of our diverse student population. 

Executive Director of ARISE, Chanda Womack, represented ARISE at the Southeast Asian Resource and Action Center’s first annual "Moving Mountains Equity Summit" in October.  Womack spoke at a plenary that convened key leaders of the successful individuals Asian American and Pacific Islander data disaggregation campaign in California, Rhode Island, and Washington. The speakers discussed the history of data disaggregation campaign in their state/region and shared information about their campaigns, challenges, lessons learned, and the fight moving forward with summit participants.

ARISE is so thrilled to announce the appointments of two of our supporters and trailblazers, Pu Vilai Or and Jonathan Mendelsohn.  Both have been appointed to serve as Principals in the Providence School District.  Pu Vilai Or is the first Southeast Asian to serve as a Principal in the Providence School District, and Johnathan Mendelsohn is the first Korean Principal.  We want to extend our congratulations to them!

“The high percentage of undiagnosed PTSD in our community results in intergenerational trauma for our students,” Womack explained. “Southeast Asian students also experience intergenerational conflict, as their acculturation is not guided by their parents.”

Rhode Island’s act would call on the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to break down demographic data on a variety of stats, including educational proficiencies, graduation rates, attendance rates and access to educational resources. Womack said this would enable lawmakers, along with fellow Rhode Island residents, to get a better sense of what the Southeast Asian community’s true needs are.

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