Sharing Experiences
As with all organizations, events and activities are an integral part of our mission, vision, values and goals. The Department of Antiracism, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion seeks to develop events and activities that are informative and educational in every aspect. Among the events sponsored by the Department of ADEI are Conversations of Understanding and the Illinois Higher Education Equity Symposium.
According to related history contained on the website hosted by The Library of Congress, origins on the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month can be traced to the formation of the Asian American movement, which led AAM to begin material about Asian Americans. The UCLA Asian American Studies Center played a central role in the formation.
A former congressional staffer in the 1970s, Jeanie Jew, first approached Representative Frank Horton with the idea of designating a month to recognize Asian Pacific Americans, following the bicentennial celebrations. In June 1977, Representatives Horton, and Norman Y. Mineta, introduced a United States House of Representatives resolution to proclaim the first ten days of May as Asian-Pacific Heritage Week. A similar bill was introduced in the Senate a month later by Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga.
The proposed resolutions sought that May be designated for two reasons. First, on May 7, 1843, the first Japanese immigrant, Nakahama Manjirō, arrived in the United States. More than two decades later, on May 10, 1869, the golden spike was driven into the first transcontinental railroad, which was completed using Chinese labor.
President Jimmy Carter signed a joint resolution for the celebration on October 5, 1978.
On May 1, 2009, President Barack Obama signed Proclamation 8369, recognizing the month of May as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
(Asian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month, 2025)
