From Marginalized to Validated: An In-depth Case Study of an Asian American, Native American and Pacific Islander Serving Institution

(Re)conceptualizing Protests: Activism, Resistance, and AANAPISIs

“…Moreover, AANAPISIs have the potential to leverage their institutional status and funding to enact policies and programs that can in turn lead to better student outcomes. Studies demonstrate that when AANAPISIs are provided sufficient financial support, they can serve the needs of APIA students (CARE, 2011(CARE, , 2013(CARE, , 2014Teranishi et al, 2012;Nguyen et al, 2014Nguyen et al, , 2018.…”

“…Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) are the physical manifestations where forms of inequity intersect, yet these institutions actively mitigate social stratification through equitable, culturally conscious policies and practices (Nguyen et al, 2018). Moreover, AANAPISIs are the actualized space of resistance, symbolically and pragmatically (Park and Chang, 2010).…”

Conditions that Catalyze the Emergence of Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions

“…Because AANAPISIs are not founded on missions to support AAPI students and are only required to have a student body that is at least 10% AAPI, these institutions are typically historically and predominantly White. As a result, their campus cultures are disproportionately founded on the values and perspectives of middle‐class White populations and their policies and practices are mainly designed to serve White and more affluent students (Nguyen, Nguyen, Nguyen, Gasman, & Conrad, ).…”

“…An emerging body of literature depicts how AANAPISI programs create counterspaces that provide culturally relevant and responsive education and support that allow AAPI students to thrive within their larger institutions (Museus, Wright‐Mair, & Mac, ; Nguyen et al., ). For example, some AANAPISI programs use their federal funding to expand the reach of Asian American studies courses, foster communities of learning that engage with the cultural identities and needs of racially diverse student populations and provide holistic and proactive support networks that help AAPI students thrive in college (Museus et al., ).…”

“…For example, some AANAPISI programs use their federal funding to expand the reach of Asian American studies courses, foster communities of learning that engage with the cultural identities and needs of racially diverse student populations and provide holistic and proactive support networks that help AAPI students thrive in college (Museus et al., ). In addition, existing empirical research suggests that such efforts might be conducive to improving outcomes among AAPI students at AANAPISIs, including strengthening their understanding of their own identities, fostering stronger connections between students and their communities, cultivating students’ skills and commitments to give back to their communities, and persistence and graduation (Museus et al., ; Nguyen et al., ). While there is an emerging body of knowledge about how federally funded AANAPISIs utilize their resources to better serve AAPIs, the process of them becoming a federally designated and supported AANAPISI is not well understood.…”