George Fox’s Fusion Club

By Rashad Smith

If you happen to be familiar at all with the Asian American experience, there might be a club for you. Fusion, a multicultural club under the International Resource Center (IRC), cultivates a community for Asian American students. It meets at the IRC at 7 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month. There is free food and a comfortable area for people of color to share their experiences and point of view on being Asian American or whatever the meeting’s prompt may be.

 The Fusion Club is also open to members of the student body who are not of Asian descent. “The goal is not to just be an ingroup having a conversation,” said Rachel Leong, president of Fusion Club. The club is meant to provide a space for a group that doesn’t receive many opportunities to relax, discuss, and thrive with other people of similar backgrounds.

As Leong pointed out, May is Asian American/Pacific Islander Heritage Month. By that time, the academic year is over, so it has never been celebrated on campus. Given our academic calendar, there are events during Black History month, Latino Heritage month, and Native American Heritage month, but nothing for Asian Americans.

 At least not yet. Leong is planning an Asian American, Pacific Islander heritage week to be celebrated in January 2020. 

“Starting small to have visibility, and some education; if that’s programming with events, or a forum, or a panel, or even educational marketing, just positive programming on campus,” she said. The club aims at making the presence of Asian Americans on campus more known. Be on the lookout for future activities.