Tatsu says:
This is only temporary...I didn't have time to write a nice concise FAQ page before I left so I just put this letter in instead...but someone from the E-board will edit up a real nice info sheet for you all...soon. Until then, here's a response to a query from a reporter for _The Amherst Student_(the college's weekly newspaper publication)
To: alfan@amherst.edu
From: tjyamato@unix.amherst.edu (Tatsu Yamato)
Subject: Re: Hi! This is regarding the Students of Mixed Heritage
cultural group
Thank you for your attention Ms. Fan. I hope that this reply helps you with your article.
1) How did your group get started? Who else has been involved with the development of your group? Great demand for group?
Since I first got to Amherst, I've been tossing around the idea of starting up an organization for students of mixed heritage...in fact, quite a few of us had been talking about it...but we never really got our acts together. Then, this past summer, I had the opportunity to work with Hapa Issues Forum (HIF), a non-profit organization for students of mixed Asian descent based at University of California in Berkeley. Sheila Chung, the current head of HIF, and Greg Mayeda, one of HIF's founders, offered a great deal of support and encouragement when I shared my interest in starting something similar back here in Amherst. So, I came back to Amherst with a little file of structural and informational resources they had helped me put together and I called a meeting for September 18. Turnout was surprisingly large (around 25), with many additional people who had expressed interest unable to make it due to scheduling conflicts. I spent most of the meeting telling people I would do no more than call the first meeting and it was up to them to pick up the ball and make something of it. Well, some people did pick up the ball. In particular, Senoe Torgerson really took hold of the group and made something of it. She and I drafted a constitution together based off of the charters for HIF, BSU, and ASA; submitted it to the SFC; received approval; and then Senoe called together a provisional E-board to draft a budget proposal for next semester (Senoe could tell you who those people were...Off the top of my head, I can only recall Sarita Pandey, Tariye Isoun, Dana Gunthorpe, Emily Eliason...and those names might be wrong). And um...that's pretty much all for the genesis of SMHAC.
As far as demand goes, I would say that the high number of folks who came out for the first meeting indicates their is a definite and large demand for a group like SMHAC.
>2) Has your group been active already? What have you done so far, if you have? Was turnout good? Student reactions?
Thus far, we have only had the first meeting, a budget drafting session, and elections for our first Executive Board. Turnout was best at the first meeting (25 as I mentioned before)...turnout for the elections was significantly lower probably due to its proximity to a number of academic deadlines.
Student reactions have for the most part been positive...not just from students of mixed heritage, but also from the community in general.
There have been some questions from students, as to why we feel it necessary to have this separate group. Some people have even expressed a concern that this is symptomatic of an continuing process of "ethnic Balkanization" going on at both the campus and national level... that our group is an attempt to separate from the rest of campus or the black community or the Asian community or what have you...
I answer that the increasing phenomena of identity groups in this country is in fact part of a clarifying and articulating process of who we really are in this country...it is an acknowledgement that America is more than just the white male culture and white male experience. It is an effort to expand the narrative of this country; to include more voices in the shaping of our still very fledgling "American culture." But I'm no sociologist so let me stop there before I get any more pretensious... Basically, SMHAC is here because we feel we have something different to contribute to the American cultural narrative. I urge people of color in other identity groups, such as Black student unions or Asian student associations, to think carefully before they proclaim that groups for mixed folks divide and dilute our already small communities. Are not the same arguments used against the existence of (y)our identity organizations as well?
>3) What does your group plan for the future? General format of how things will be carried out? State a "grand purpose" of some sorts...
Hopefully Senoe answered this question for you already because, like I said, the ball is no longer in my hands...I do know that some of the ideas people had for SMHAC's future plans include:
I suppose there will be periodic meetings for people to get together and talk. Our mission statement is broad and vague because SMHAC is still very much in the process of taking shape...what you should probably do is take a look at our constitution (it's on our homepage) and read the Section I Mission Statement.
As we develop in the future, I think you will see SMHAC moving in a number of directions - as an educating body, political action group, information resource, safe place for people of mixed heritage to define and contextualize themselves - there is room for a great deal to take place...
I originally envisioned SMHAC as a voice for people of mixed heritage. What they do with that voice is now completely up to them.
>4) Any faculty involved in group?
Not yet...but Dean Boykin-East and Dean Lee have supported us by giving us funding for our first few meetings...and Professor Ferguson made a brief appearance at our first meeting. We are however looking for a regular faculty advisor...
>5) Any hurdles to overcome? (Or already overcame?)
SMHAC is founded in large part upon the principles of self-definition and diversity...this could prove to be difficult as we try to give more shape to the organization...We are a group because there is something different about our experiences as mixed heritage people...The trick now is to find out how, if at all, that brings us together. For instance, what, if anything, do I as a young man of Japanese and black descent hold as a common experience or common goal with a young woman of Peruvian and German descent...Perhaps only our desire to be able to identify with both, one, or neither of those heritages...but then, perhaps, that is enough.
>6) How many students do you anticipate will be affiliated with your group? How large do you estimate the mixed heritage population at Amherst is?
I have no clue how big the mixed population at Amherst is...I do know that it is probably larger than you or I would even guess...Mixed heritage can mean anything from someone like me who is Black and Japanese to someone like Sarita Pandey who is Indian and grew up in Colombia...Again, it's all about self-definition. To hazard a guess, we will probably have a core of about 15 to 20 core members who show up for the regular meetings and maybe a total of 40 to 50 folks who regularly attend the bigger events...As for the total school population...could it be as high as a 100 or more?
>7) Do you have set meeting times, other things student body should know...
I think we are done for the semester...but look for us next semester...I'm sure there will be more than enough publicity around the campus for our events... However, if you want to be on top of everything, you can stop by our homepage and check the list of upcoming events. It should be updated at least once a week. Editor's note: As of last semester, SMHAC meetings were Tuesday evenings at 7 pm in the Campus Center basement.
>8) Just how exactly would you like the group's name to appear in print? (Is what I have in the subject heading right?)
Students of Mixed Heritage at Amherst College (SMHAC (pronounced "smack"))