Donation to Asian Culture Center exands opportunities

A large donation appeared in IU Asian Culture Center’s funds as IU kicked off its celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month. The celebration generally occurs in May, but IU students celebrate a month early before the semester ends.

The $10,000 donation made by alumnus Joon Park was announced at a luncheon last Tuesday.

“We’re beginning to see more and more alumni, especially former student leaders, reconnect with the ACC in the past few years by way of giving back,” director of the ACC Melanie Castillo-Cullather said in an email. “Joon’s gift is the first donation of its size.”

Park is currently working as the chief operation officer of the investment management division of the Alyeska Investment Group in Chicago, Ill. His donation will be used by the ACC to fund the Joon Park Student Leadership Experience Award. Each award will provide the accepted student with $1,000 towards going to a conference or workshop focused on community engagement, community advocacy or professional development.

Senior Justin Zheng, student webmaster for the ACC, said that Park’s donation will be helpful in establishing the ACC’s presence in the Midwest when more student leaders are able to attend conferences. He also said that other recent donations will assist student-run Asian culture clubs on campus, like a donation made by Paul Park to create the Community Engagement Fund.

“Many of (the clubs) represent a smaller ethnicity of Asian students than most of IU’s student body thinks of when they think of ‘Asian,’” Zheng said in an email. “These are clubs that can benefit the most with just a bit more support to achieve their goals and gain a bigger presence on campus.”

Freshman historian for IU’s chapter of the Asian American Association Jessie Chen would like to apply for the JPSLE award in order to travel to conferences and workshops and learn more about Asian American culture.

“I think that kind of grant can be really useful,” Chen said. “For example, next week there’s the Midwest Asian American Students Union convention at the University of Michigan. Such conferences can cost a lot with the travel.”

Senior Stefan Khensouri, a student staff member at the ACC, would like to see future students use the JPSLE award to connect with other Asian Americans at national conferences.

“I grew up in Indiana so I didn’t know many other people like me,” Khensouri said. “(Students) might be able to see that there are more people like them out there in the country.”

Since he is about to graduate, Khensouri is already looking for ways he could repay the ACC for all it has done for him like Joon Park did with his donation.

“If I have a lot of money, I would donate to the ACC,” Khensouri said. “They gave me a job and I started going to events as a freshman. I didn’t know much about my own culture, but I learned about it and other cultures.”