The Center for Asian American Studies (CAAS) promotes research and education on Asian Americans, particularly Southeast Asian Americans in New England.

Students and faculty sit around tables having discussions

UMass Lowell is an AANAPISI (Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution)

The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has awarded nearly $1.5 million to UMass Lowell to support Asian American and Pacific Islander students, most of whom come from Southeast Asian refugee families that have settled in and around Lowell.

Read more about the federal grant to boost Asian American Students and UMass Lowell.

CAAS Decries Supreme Court Ruling on Affirmative Action

The Center for Asian American Studies at UMass Lowell decries the Supreme Court’s decision striking down the use of affirmative action in access to higher education. As long as structural racism pervades our society, affirmative action is an important means to achieve equity and justice. We echo the Southeast Asian Resource Action Center’s statement that “Southeast Asian American (SEAA) students, as do many other Asian American students, benefit from race-conscious affirmative action. These policies allow our students’ full potential to be seen including their experiences, backgrounds, and race.”
Scholars have long found that having diversity on campus helps students learn better, become more tolerant of different viewpoints, and helps reduce prejudice and intergroup bias (Allport, 1954; Pettigrow; 1998; Gurin & Nagda; 2006). With growing diversity and political divisiveness in U.S. and the globe, we need a diverse student body more than ever.
We also categorically reject any attempt to exploit Asian Americans and the model minority myth to uphold white supremacy. We stand with Black, Latino/a/x, Native American, and all people of color and our allies in the fight against systemic racism.

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