By: Alejandro Cortez

October 21, 2012

Two new clubs have emerged this fall to highlight and celebrate Asian culture and Asians at Dominican. The Student Government Association (SGA) approved the Asian Student Interest Association (ASIA) and DU Filipino Association (DUFA) last Monday. ASIA and DUFA are Dominican’s first Asian-interest clubs.

ASIA President Christine Nguyen said the club is designed to “educate others about the Asian culture but yet have fun and celebrate different holidays.”

Nguyen said she has not yet scheduled the first meeting. ASIA aims to bring diversity by celebrating holidays of various Asian cultures and opportunities to experience different communities through trips outside of Dominican. ASIA would not be only for just Asians but is open to the whole Dominican community, Nguyen said. ASIA Vice President Jenifer Lee says,” it’s a good way to expose the Asian culture because at Dominican Asians are minorities.” ASIA would also cover parts of Thailand and Malaysia and not only big parts of Asia, Korea or China. 

The other Asian club, DUFA, strives to enhance cultural awareness of Filipino Americans while developing an enriching experience in which all are welcome to learn about the Filipino culture, heritage, and traditions. The DUFA President Brenda Trujillo says “since there’s a lot of diversity, not many are shown as Filipino background. I want to expose the Dominican community of the rich Filipino culture since there’s not many here.”

Although there are clubs for other ethnic cultures at Dominican, these two clubs are the first for Asians. There are 72 undergraduate Asians enrolled at Dominican, 3.6 percent of the population. ASIA and DUFA is an opportunity for Asians or the student body to experience different cultures, events, and holidays.