TOLEDO, Ohio — Editor's note: The above video aired during a newscast March 4, 2021.
Throughout the past year, major events have opened dialogues on race-related topics on a much greater scale than ever before. As part of this, the University of Toledo's “Dialogues on Diversity” series opens those discussions in a town hall setting.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light the blatant discrimination and violence that Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander folks have experienced,” Aleiah Jones, Office of Multicultural Student Success Manager said. “The organization Stop AAPI Hate received 3,795 reports of anti-Asian hate incidents between March 2020 and February 2021. Anti-Asian hate is not a new phenomenon in our country. We mourn the victims of the recent attack in Atlanta and stand in solidarity with our AAPI community.”
The next virtual town hall, “Stop Anti-Asian Hate, The Fight to Eliminate Racism in All Forms,” is taking place at noon Tuesday, April 6, on Webex. This discussion is part of many in the University of Toledo's free Dialogues on Diversity series.
Sara Clark, director of the UToledo Center for International Studies and Programs, will moderate the discussion with participants including:
- Dr. An Chung Cheng, professor of Spanish in the UToledo Department of World Languages and Cultures, and director of the Asian Studies Program;
- Dr. Joseph Hara, Distinguished University Lecturer in the UToledo Department of World Languages and Cultures, and director of the Japanese program;
- Hua Liu Sowa, Ph.D. student in UToledo’s Judith Herb College of Education, and former chair of the Chinese Center of Toledo Board of Directors;
- Carolyn Sowa, Toledo native who is a master’s student in international law at Beijing University and a master’s student in international relations at the London School of Economics; and
- Xinren Yu, assistant director of the UToledo Center for International Studies and Programs.
Immediately following the event, the University Counseling Center with the Office of Multicultural Student Success and the Center for International Studies and Programs will host a support group for students. UToledo students can access the support group meeting on Invonet.
Additional resources are available at UToledo’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month webpage.