Joint Statement from Stanford AAPI Community

Race conscious college admission is important for our community as it supports the disaggregation of data on Asian American and helps uncover many education disparities for Filipinos in America. 

Research indicates that within the Asian community, Filipino and Southeast Asian Americans are less likely to be enrolled in college (National Center for Education Statistics, 2017). This is also reflected in advanced degree attainment as 0.6% of Filipinos, 0.5% of Vietnamese, 0.2% of Hmong, 0.1% of Cambodian, and 0.1% of Lao Americans have doctoral degrees while 1.2% of the general American population have doctoral degrees (Yamane, 2012, US Census, 2020). Research also indicates that Filipino American students in California and Hawai’i consistently score lower on the SATs than other Asian American and White Americans (Halagao, 2022; UC San Diego, 2017). In these ways, race conscious considerations in college admissions increases educational opportunities for Filipino and Southeast Asian Americans (Maramba & Bonus, 2013; Nadal, Tintiangco-Cubales, & David, 2022).

Statement

On June 29th, 2023, the Supreme Court struck down the consideration of race in college admissions. We, the Asian American Studies faculty and the Asian American Activities Center (A3C) at Stanford, vehemently object to this decision and are deeply disappointed by this result. Affirmative action has historically been one of the most effective tools to counter institutionalized inequality and to boost access to our most influential higher education institutions for women, people of color, and the least socioeconomically privileged in our society. To ban this policy, as Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson concluded in her dissenting opinion, is "truly a tragedy for us all."We are particularly disturbed by the ways in which our communities were used to further political interests that most Asian Americans do not support. Asian Americans have consistently advocated for affirmative action in employment and higher education since the mid-20th century. Despite this reality, White conservatives and a small but well-resourced group of Asian American conservative allies have drawn upon the racist "model minority" trope to dismantle a policy that has uplifted vulnerable and marginalized across all communities of color. In distorting and conflating real issues of anti-Asian violence and discrimination with affirmative action, they have imperiled our communities' ongoing efforts towards true equality and justice. We unreservedly reject the use of our Asian American communities as a political and racial wedge against the interest of other racialized communities.To our students, we share your disappointment and anger at this decision. Asian American Studies faculty and the A3C reaffirm our commitment to supporting equity, belonging, and justice for all students of color. We collectively call upon Stanford University to re-double its efforts and step up as a bold leader in advancing racial justice in U.S. higher education.

Signed,
Linda M. Tran, Associate Dean & Scott J.J. Hsu Director, Asian American Activities Center (A3C)
Jerald L. Adamos, Assistant Dean & Associate Director, A3C
Latana Thaviseth, Assistant Director, A3C
Anthony lising antonio, Professor, Graduate School of Education
Gordon Chang, Professor, History
Thaomi Michelle Dinh, Associate Director & Lecturer, Asian American Studies
Shelley Fisher Fishkin, Professor, English
Marci Kwon, Assistant Professor, Art & Art History
Koji Lau-Ozawa, Lecturer, Asian American Studies
Young Jean Lee, Professor, Theater and Performance Studies
Kathryn Gin Lum, Associate Professor, Religious Studies
Hazel Markus, Professor, Psychology
Paula Moya, Professor, English & Director, Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity
David Palumbo-Liu, Professor, Comparative Literature
Eujin Park, Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Education
Stephen Sano, Professor, Music
Shirin Sinnar, Professor, Law
Shimon Tanaka, Lecturer, English
Sharika Thiranagama, Associate Professor, Anthropology
Jeanne Tsai, Professor, Psychology
Linda Uyechi, Lecturer, Music
Ge Wang, Associate Professor, Music
Yuhe Faye Wang, Post-Doctoral Fellow, History
Christine Min Wotipka, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education
Sylvia Yanagisako, Professor, Anthropology