Everyone deserves to know where they came from. They deserve to feel intrinsic value and to be represented. They deserve to not only understand the collective experiences that explain, structure, and define their experience, but also to explain it to others. For Asian Americans, a relatively young and often misunderstood demographic, these needs are ever-present, and the attainment of them ever-rewarding.
My name is Vishal Vaid. I graduated from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences in 2001. I started off a McCormick Engineering student majoring in Computer Science, but by the end of sophomore year I knew I needed a much stronger liberal arts focus so I switched to Weinberg, keeping Computer Science (named Computing and Information Systems) but allowing a minor in the Liberal Arts to satisfy both passions.
As a freshman, I was startled to learn that the world class institution that I had joined was devoid of two significant programs that I had a deep personal interest: the Hindi language class (a language spoken by my parents and ancestors) and the Asian American Studies program - the only major ethnic studies program excluded from Northwestern’s repertoire. For lack of a better way of describing it, I felt shafted not having access to such academic enrichment. It wasn’t fair that Asian Americans had such poor representation in the curriculum. Moreover, I was at a critical point in my life when it came to establishing self-identity and self-awareness. It was incredibly important to me to have access to classes that could help structure and provide framework for my religious, cultural and racial “blend.” Once it was clear that no such program existed at Northwestern, it created an alienating and neglecting feeling, and so it was not long before I joined forces with the team of students senior to me that had been fighting for these programs years before me to help bring these programs to campus.
Suffice to say, it was no easy undertaking. While Indians and other Asian Americans were fighting for Hindi and Asian American Studies, blacks and all other minority students were fighting for such basics as Martin Luther King Jr. Day being celebrated on campus. Student leaders had their work cut out for them, and thankfully, students were motivated to fight.
In my sophomore year, we staged a rally of 400+ people to fight for Asian American Studies. We were inspired by the 1995 hunger strike and even brought some of those students back to speak. We marched across campus to voice our concerns and generated petitions of 1,000+ students who not only demanded the existence of Asian American Studies on campus but also indicated a deep interest in taking classes in the program, if they were offered. We met with administrators to convey our points, dismiss their concerns and reverse the general apathy that seemed to exist towards the creation, funding and fortifying of the program. It was immensely gratifying to me that in my junior and senior years, that I was able to not only take Hindi for two years, but was also able to be the first to sign up for the Asian American Studies minor and the first of two to graduate with that minor in 2001. As a further indication of the times and our ability to achieve success with the Northwestern administration, I was also able to proudly celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day with my fellow students my senior year after being a part of that struggle as well!
Since the program was brand new, it was a sort of an adventure putting the minor together, which was refreshing to be able to do at a large and established school like Northwestern. Working with my advisors to determine which courses I had already taken qualified (like Hinduism, African American History, Intro to Sociology, Hindi, etc.) and which new courses I still needed to take like Asian American History and South Asian Diaspora proved to be not only an exciting administrative exercise but also one that stretched my versatility as a student. I had to take advanced classes before intermediate classes to make it all work out. It was intimidating at times, but there was never a doubt, personally or from my professors and advisors, that I couldn’t do it and that it wasn’t well worth it.
Graduating with a minor Asian American Studies was obviously of deep significance to me. Not only was I able to take classes that provided a framework for me to better understand the immigrant experience of my parents and explain my experiences as a first generation Asian American, but it also rounded me out, not just as a student but as a human being. To complement my computer science, engineering, and other technical courses, I was able to take sociology, anthropology, history, African American studies, and language classes to help craft my minor, which provided me with a lifetime of knowledge and wisdom that I continue to benefit from today. I was able to explore my identity in ways previously unimagined. I was not only able to find answers to questions about my experience growing up, but also to ask deeper questions about the world at large. Ultimately, graduating with the Asian American Studies minor, with all the struggle and experiences that led up to it, was not only gratifying, but a form of justice and fulfillment of destiny. Being a part of the creation of the Asian American Studies program was easily one of my greatest takeaways from my time as a Northwestern student.
Vishal Vaid (Weinberg ’01) was one of two students to first graduate with an Asian American studies minor.
