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ARCHIVES: SPIRIT OF CAREER CONFERENCE AND ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING, 1979

By Elizabeth H. Lu ’79

(Editor’s note: Although this event took place over two years ago which established the AAP as a viable organization, this is the first report to the alumni on what happened.)

Good things never come easy. Almost two years after Peter Lee ’77 and Danilo Joa ’77 had first discussed the possibilities of an Asian alumni group, the idea finally became reality in Spring 1979. Questionnaires were sent out, the first official alumni directory was compiled, the first AAP newsletter was distributed, and perhaps most significant of all because it was the first formal gathering of Princeton’s Asian alumni, the AAP Career Conference was held.

Until the Conference, most Asian undergraduates came to Princeton, made friends with some fellow Asian-Americans, had a few laughs, then pursued their respective careers individually—save for vague promises that we would all meet at reunions one of these days. Many knew little about the Asian-American students came before them or wanted to be overly concerned about those who would come after. It seems as if we were all given the opportunity to spend four years together and we were willing to let it just be a nice memory, instead of making it what it could be—potential for cooperation and support. Consequently, as a concrete step towards realizing that potential, the 1979 Career Conference was a major event.

Months of work went into the planning. Six committees, including Funding, Scheduling, Locations, Newsletters, Publicity, and Meals, were formed to get the project off the ground. The Funding Committee successfully solicited contributions from twelve campus organizations and departments, including the Chapel which, to this day, I cannot figure out how we were able to convince to make a donation. Other volunteers contacted scores of alumni to invite them to participate. I remember going through the Washington DC alumni directory and picking out all the Asian-sounding names, one of which was a Joseph Lee or something…

After several confusing minutes with Mr. Lee over the phone, it finally dawned on me that the gentleman was not Asian-American. I apologized profusely, embarrassed that our AAP directory was eons away from being complete, but I faintly recall inviting him to attend the conference nevertheless. Mr. Lee politely backed down but did wish the AAP success on the Career Conference.

Success we did have. On Friday evening, April 20th, several of us met the first returning alumna Vicki Takeuchi ’74 who flew back from California at the Maclean House reception. Connie Chan ’76 soon joined us and we all headed for a Welcome Dinner at the 1917 Room in Commons. By Saturday morning, all of the other alumni had registered and over forty conference participants, including undergraduates, gathered at a Jadwin Lounge for wine, cheese and informal discussion. It was an exciting get-together because the alumni, many of who have for months been just names on paper, were finally there. Alumni and undergraduates all smiled and sipped, and savored the moment. We soon carried our discussions to the Wilcox Special Dinging Room, where moderators for the afternoon panel discussions got acquainted with the guest speakers they were to introduce later.

The three panel discussions took place at the Woodrow Wilson School. Originally the organizers had planned to hold the discussions concurrently in different precept rooms, but that seemed to separate the group spirit. Moreover, several people could not decide which discussion to attend because they did not want to miss any of the other discussions. We finally trooped to a conference room that accommodated us all, and everyone got the opportunity to hear every speaker.

Jason Cheng ’79 and Richard Tong ’82 introduced the speakers for the Science and Technology, Medicine Panel. There were many aspiring doctors and engineers among the undergraduates who were absorbed by the presentations of Leighten Chen ’66, Physical Chemistry; James Chu ’78, Physics; S.Y. Tong GS *66, Electrical Engineering; Alfred Wen ’72, Architecture; Barbara Wong ’76, Geology/Environmental Consulting; and Chuen Yee ’75, Medicine. Some, such as James Chu, described his experiences in graduate school while others detailed what it was like in the working world of their respective fields. For example, Dr. Yee described what it was like for her in medical school as an Asian American woman while Mr. Wen cautioned that architecture was an extremely competitive field.

Helen Chiu ’80 and Liz Lu ’79, moderators for the Government and Business Panel, welcomed speakers Yeiichi Kuwayama ’40, Banking; Dora Lee ’76, Environmental Planning and Management; Charles Y.S. Liu ’72, International Affairs, and Alan Uyeda ’71, Electrical Engineering and Business. Mr. Kuwayama, the most senior alumnus at the conference, related his career and his work for the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington DC; and Ms. Lee described her post-graduation years working in the Nation’s Capitol. Mr. Liu not only described his work for the United Nations, but treated the audience to anecdotes about his Princeton experience such as the sit-in at Firestone Library to help get the Third World Center started. As for Mr. Uyeda, he briefed the undergraduates on how he had combined his engineering background with a business degree and what it was like at the Wharton Business School.

The last of the three panel discussion was ton Social Work and Community Affairs, moderated by Sumi Koide ’82 and David Wu ’79. The panelists were relatively recent graduates including Connie Chan ’76, Psychiatry; Charlie Lai ’78, Community Affairs; and Vicki Takeuchi ’74, Social Work. Connie described the trials and tribulations of working for her Masters in Psychiatry; Charlie shared wit the audience his enthusiasm for the community affairs work being done in New York City Chinatown; followed by Ms. Takeuchi who described what social work was like in California.

After a question and answer period between the alumni and undergraduates, the meeting adjourned. The refreshment period that followed provided the undergraduates additional opportunities to ask questions on a more informal basis.

That evening, we reconvened at the Third World Center for the formal organizational meeting, during which David Wu ’79 solicited comments and ideas from alumni and undergraduates on how we could best organize AAP. The discussion that followed concluded that the goals of the AAP (e.g. recruiting, newsletter, career conference, et cetera) were great, but participants had a difficult time deciding on the structure of the organization (e.g. who, undergraduates or alumni, would assume the responsibility of handling the logistics of carrying out AAP projects). A majority of the alumni preferred to contribute financial support rather than time. The undergraduates, who had originally hoped that the administration of AAP would mainly be alumni, eventually concluded they nevertheless had more of that than dollars. Moreover, the undergraduates would have convenient access to the Alumni Council at Maclean House. It was thus tentatively agreed that the base of operation would be on campus with the undergraduates in charge.

Since the organizational meeting, the undergraduates tried their best to continue the spirit; especially Helen Chiu ’80 and Pat Eng ’81 who were undergraduate representatives in 1980 and 1981, respectively. However, due to a lack of time commitment form the Asian community of Princeton and lack of an united effort to develop the organization, the development of Asian Alumni of Princeton has stagnated.

It is hard to believe that it ahs already been over two years since the Career Conference. Although the spirit of the Conference has, in the words of Pat Eng ’81 in the May Newsletter last year, “dissipated”, fragments of interest and the original enthusiasm lingered on. Many of the undergraduates who had helped organize the Conference tow years ago are alumni now, and a good number want to revive the enthusiasm for the AAP. If we believe that the Career Conference and what it potentially stood for is something we want to continue, and if we believe that sharing our experiences bout at and after Princeton will promote a sense of friendship and community among ourselves, then it is worth every effort to revitalize that spirit.