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Princeton University Asian American Student Association Records
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Held at: Princeton University Library: University Archives [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: University Archives. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
The Princeton University Asian American Students Association (AASA) was organized in 1971 to address the needs of Asian American students at Princeton through social, cultural, political, and educational programs. An original committee member of the Third World Center, AASA emerged on Princeton's campus during a time of student unrest at many American universities and primarily functioned to support current students. After drafting its first constituion in 1978, the organization co-founded and later hosted the first East Coast Asian Students Union (ECASU) Conference.
In the early 1980's, AASA rebounded from a brief period of inactivity to reaffirm its commitment to the student experience of Asian American students at Princeton by publishing The Seedling magazine and the AASA Press. The 1990's ushered in a renewed focus on activism for the organization, reaching its height on April 20, 1995, with a 35-hour sit-in at Nassau Hall led by 17 students who advocated for the establishment of programs and professorships in Asian American Studies and Latino Studies, to which the University responded in part during the fall of 1995 with an announcement of faculty member searches for each discipline as well increased library holdings for each discipline.
With the Program beginning soon thereafter, AASA returned to its focus on the student experience of Asian American students at Princeton by sponsoring programs, hosting lectures, and establishing Unfound: The Princeton Journal of Asian American Studies, whose inaugural issue was published in the fall of 2014.
The Asian American Students Association Records chiefly consist of correspondence, petitions, reports, and proposals that document the campaign for developing an Asian American Studies program at Princeton as well as records that document campus events and activities led and sponsored by the Asian American Student Association. The collection also holds documents of the founding of the Asian American Alumni Association of Princeton (A4P).
The collection is arranged chronologically by year.
Materials were transferred to the University Archives in two Accessions: AR.2014.033 and AR.2015.037.
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
This collection was processed by Jarrett M. Drake in 2015. Finding aid written by Jarrett M. Drake in 2015. Finding aid updated by Valencia L. Johnson in 2019.
No materials were separated from the collection during processing.
- Publisher
- University Archives
- Finding Aid Date
- 2015
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
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The Princeton University Asian American Students Association (AASA) was organized in 1971 to address the needs of Asian American students at Princeton through social, cultural, political, and educational programs. An original committee member of the Third World Center, AASA emerged on Princeton's campus during a time of student unrest at many American universities and primarily functioned to support current students. After drafting its first constituion in 1978, the organization co-founded and later hosted the first East Coast Asian Students Union (ECASU) Conference.
In the early 1980's, AASA rebounded from a brief period of inactivity to reaffirm its commitment to the student experience of Asian American students at Princeton by publishing The Seedling magazine and the AASA Press. The 1990's ushered in a renewed focus on activism for the organization, reaching its height on April 20, 1995, with a 35-hour sit-in at Nassau Hall led by 17 students who advocated for the establishment of programs and professorships in Asian American Studies and Latino Studies, to which the University responded in part during the fall of 1995 with an announcement of faculty member searches for each discipline as well increased library holdings for each discipline.
With the Program beginning soon thereafter, AASA returned to its focus on the student experience of Asian American students at Princeton by sponsoring programs, hosting lectures, and establishing Unfound: The Princeton Journal of Asian American Studies, whose inaugural issue was published in the fall of 2014.
Physical Description1 website