Persistence.
This was the most critical element for the upstart of Northwestern’s Asian American Studies Program, according to Sumun Pendakur, who played a crucial role in the program’s creation. As a Northwestern undergraduate and member of the Asian American Advisory Board student group, she began advocating for the program her freshman year in 1995 and continued through her entire college career.
That year marked the height of the student protests to create the program. As part of AAAB, of which she became chair by her senior year, Pendakur helped organize movements such as marches down Sheridan Road and student-led Asian American Studies courses. She also participated for three days in the 23-day hunger strike of 1995.
“When you’re passionate about something, you can do lots of things,” she said, noting that her hunger became less of a priority while fighting for the program’s formation. “Things like hunger kind of stay to the side because the student leaders of the time were so emphatic that this was something that Northwestern needed.”
In addition to students’ driven mindsets, Pendakur attributed some of the program’s success to AAAB’s strong organization and commitment to transfer the group’s mission from one graduating class to the next.
“Administrations have the capacity to wait students out,” she said. “The seniors graduate and they haven’t done succession plans in the organization, and they haven’t encouraged students to carry on the mission.”
The AAAB, however, pursued its goals for nearly two graduation cycles in the seven-yearlong process to create the program.
Pendakur mentioned that collaboration among student groups and faculty were also instrumental in the program’s startup, saying AAAB “had backing from the Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Association, For Members Only and Casa Hispana. Many of their members came to all of our rallies, all of our protests, and we did the same for them.”
Pendakur did not stop pursuing her passion for dealing with issues of inequality after her time at Northwestern. Now the associate dean for institutional diversity at Harvey Mudd College, she works to develop an environment inclusive to students from a variety of backgrounds. She said that since her undergraduate years, she has seen growth in awareness of inclusion, and that initiatives like increased investments in social justice education and multicultural centers are “positive trends” that modern universities are undergoing.
However, she said the lingering problem of underfunding for programs that “should be at the center of the educational experience” persists.
“There is a rich body of study, literature, theory and much more, and we miss out on the opportunities to learn about … how complex the tapestry of the United States is,” she said. “I think when you are not present in the curriculum, it’s easy to become invisible in the broader narrative.”
She also cited that the post-racial ideology that permeates today’s society is a problematic development faced by today’s academic institutions.
“The idea that ‘you and I are just humans, I just see you and you just see me and I don’t see race’ leads to a whole host of problems,” she said.
She says that this affects both institutions as a whole and individual students, as this mindset determines the values emphasized in their education as well as the “discourse around how race, gender, class are still very, very powerful structures that shape our experiences.”
In the face of issues that present challenges for marginalized groups, Pendakur said that coalition among these communities continues to be a powerful and critical force of change. She said that thinking of ways in which people who are marginalized in any way can work together to improve campus conditions drives her work at Harvey Mudd.
“We can meet at intersections to figure out where our common purposes and common issues are,” she said.
