The White House Initiative Lacking Campus Initiative
by Pauline T. Nguyen, special contributor

Looking around the room, it seemed like a poster board for the Asian American success story. The auditorium buzzed with the excitement of community leaders, professionals, and government officials discussed about their vision for the future. Doctors discussed with business professionals about ways to improve healthcare. Lawyers chatted with community leaders about how racial crimes are being under-reported in the community. All around, the optimism and hope for the future was the topic of the day. Ironically, the conference was held to improve the lives of the future generation; yet, only a few of the intended recipients were present, let alone vocal in the proceedings.

On September 18, 2000, the White House hosted the Eastern Region Town Hall Meeting in our own Tishman Auditorium. Sponsored by the President's Advisory Commission, the meeting had a purpose to provide the White House with recommendations on how to improve the quality of life for Asian Americans and Pacific Islands (APIs).

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For all the times that the student population has promised to give back to the community, it is saddening to see that it was the older generation who were more passionate about our promise.

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The President's Advisory Commission on APIs was established by an Executive Order 13125 signed by Bill Clinton. It was the second of Executive order after Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066, written to address the issue of Japanese Americans detained in concentration camps. This purpose of this Order was designed to improve the quality of life of APIs through several ways. They were hoping for increased participation of Federal programs; obtain research and data from the community; and provide collaboration between the corporation sectors and community leaders. Chaired and mediated by Martha Choe, the conference consisted of testimonies from community leaders about the issues that prevail in API society and solutions that they can offer. This all-day conference succeeded in drawing upon a vast source of knowledge provided by the large number of professionals who were prepared to offer their problems and solutions. Testimonies would be the foundation of two reports to be submitted to the President at the end of the year 2000 and in May of 2001.

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