An Unseen Unheard Minority

Asian American Students at the University of Illinois

By Sharon S. Lee; Foreword by Joy Williamson- Lott

SERIES: New Directions in the History of Education

Rutgers University Press

Higher education hails Asian American students as model minorities who face no educational barriers given their purported cultural values of hard work and political passivity. Described as “over-represented,” Asian Americans have been overlooked in discussions about diversity; however, racial hostility continues to affect Asian American students, and they have actively challenged their invisibility in minority student discussions. This study details the history of Asian American student activism at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, as students rejected the university’s definition of minority student needs that relied on a model minority myth, measures of under-representation, and a Black-White racial model, concepts that made them an “unseen unheard minority.” This activism led to the creation on campus of one of the largest Asian American Studies programs and Asian American cultural centers in the Midwest. Their histories reveal the limitations of understanding minority student needs solely along measures of under-representation and the realities of race for Asian American college students.

This timely and interesting study of Asian American activism in the Midwest asserts that the model minority myth led to Asian American students’ exclusion from protected minority status even though they still faced discrimination on and off campus. Stephanie Hinnershitz, author of 'A Different Shade of Justice: Asian American Civil Rights in the South'

Lee presents a vibrant history of Asian American college students in the Midwest—far from typical Asian American population centers—and how they forged their own agenda for racial justice. OiYan Poon, Colorado State University

This timely and interesting study of Asian American activism in the Midwest asserts that the model minority myth led to Asian American students’ exclusion from protected minority status even though they still faced discrimination on and off campus. Stephanie Hinnershitz, author of A Different Shade of Justice: Asian American Civil Rights in the South

Lee presents a vibrant history of Asian American college students in the Midwest—far from typical Asian American population centers—and how they forged their own agenda for racial justice. OiYan Poon, Colorado State University

SHARON S. LEE is a teaching assistant professor in education policy, organization, and leadership at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Select Timeline of Asian American Student Activism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
List of Abbreviations
Foreword by Joy Williamson- Lott
Preface
Introduction: The Invisibility of Asian Americans in Higher Education Diversity Discussions
1: The Historiography of Asian American College Students
2: Making Noise in the Background: Asian American Students at Illinois, 1968-1975
3: We are Not Model Minorities: A New Asian American Student Movement, 1975-1992
4: We are Minorities: The Fight for Asian American Studies and Student Services, 1992-1996
5: Seeing and Hearing Asian American Students
List of Oral history Interviews
Acknowledgments
Select Bibliography
Index

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