The remaining graduates who had not had to leave for a department ceremony:
Ken-Wing Lee, John Wing-Tai Kong, Winnie Mai, Jasmine Yu, Cheri Tang.
Aleef Rahman, Rosa Cheng, Herman Lau, Shuchao Luo, Connie Boh

When Sociology was just walking into the stadium at 11:20 for the main graduation ceremony that was supposed to start at 11am, we knew we were in for a crazy day, and it was. But the crazier each graduation year seems to get, watching the joy on parent's faces, especially those who speak little English and can only see with their eyes that their child is being honored - makes it all worthwhile.

So on Friday, May 22nd, when the main ceremony ran even later that usual and the one hour lunch break instead became 15 minutes for those bothering to go to departmental ceremonies - while those who blew off their departments were able to hang out and enjoy the reception - it made giving out the awards a race against time.

The madcap event begin with SBU alumnus Tuan Le, Co-Chair of [AA]2, an alumni founded non-profit to help Asian Americans, opening the event with a few words of encouragement. He too had graduated when a financial bubble had burst and it was not easy for graduates to find jobs. But when he finally did he didn't stop but kept moving on and up until, as he said, "I go to work every morning to a job I love." He told the graduates to persevere until they too could say the same. 

He then introduced P.H. Tuan, whose design of the Charles B. Wang Center has given Stony Brook not only a building of incredible beauty but it has become the icon for the university. The Wang Center's 'Pagoda to Heaven' is so unique that it and the University have become synonymous.

They then called up each of the leaders in Asian and Asian American student organizations or Asian and Asian American student leaders in other campus organizations. Sounds convoluted but that's because not everyone is of Asian heritage. Friends get involved in clubs with their friends and then ethnic and racial divides are meaningless. The names and photos of those getting their awards are at http://www.aasquared.org/gallery/SBUGrads09.

P.H. Tuan,  China Blue's graduating President John Wing-Tai Kong, and Tuan Le

In addition to the [AA]2 Leadership Awards, there is also the [AA]2 Alumni Award. It begin three years ago with a financial award to graduating CASB President Jenny Mai. All student organizations have highs and lows. She had reinvigorated CASB and brought it to a new level. She was there to celebrate the graduation of her younger sister, Winnie Mai, CASB's VP. And next year younger brother Denny Mai will be graduating too - an Alumni Family.

This year it was impossible to give the award to just one person. Anyone who has seen the changes in China Blue over the past four years has seen something quite miraculous. What began as a simple Sunday night radio show on WUSB, alternating between Cantonese and Mandarin, has morphed into a club that holds major events that while intended for Chinese speaking students have become so popular that lots of students go. Their last one this spring, the China Blue Semi-formal, packed the large ballroom of SAC.  

The credit for the change goes to the trio of John Wing Tai Kong, Ken-Wing Lee, and Norman Lee - and there was unanimous agreement from their peers that they deserved to be honored.

P.H. Tuan, China Blue's graduating VP Norman Lee, and Tuan Le

And another of the trio, Norman Lee, had to leave as soon as he got his awards to go to the AAAS ceremony where he was given the Shi-Ming Hu Leadership Award. Shi-Ming Hu had been the advisor to CASB since its inception and students considered her the "mother of CASB", similar to the role that the popular Chinese language Professor Kam-ling Wong now plays.

Alumna Jenny Mai was on the Hu Scholarship Committee to choose the winners. Here is what she said about Norman. "I felt that his personal essay provided a perfect description of how a lot of Chinese and Chinese Americans feel about their identity. Norman recognizes that there's really no need to label someone as being more Chinese or more American, instead he points out that it's really about understanding the cultures behind the two groups. His enthusiasm for spreading Chinese culture is reflected in his leadership role for China Blue. In addition to his position as Vice President of the growing organization, he was also active as a Secretary, Event Coordinator, and Radio DJ. Norman maintains a high academic standing with a 3.75 GPA while pursuing a degree in both Biology and Psychology."

We emailed Norman to ask him how he felt. Here is his response. "Personally I feel extremely proud for winning this award, as to me it exemplifies all the time and effort that I put forth generating and promoting the product of China Blue. Our ultimate goal was always to promote the learning and expression of Chinese culture in our community, and looking back through these four years being involved with China Blue, I can only think of all our positive steps towards achieving that goal. I strongly believe the club is currently in great hands, and know that the current members will continue to strive forward with great fervor. Overall, winning this award really makes me happy in the fact that my efforts have not gone to waste but were appreciated and honored in such a way. My only wish now is that a future leader of China Blue can also use their experiences in the club and compete for the scholarship as well."

P.H. Tuan, 2nd Place Wang Center Photo Contest Winner Stephanie Long, and Tuan Le

Last but not least, while P.H. Tuan was there, he also gave out the awards for the Wang Center Photo Contest that he began sponsoring this year. The Grand Prize winner was Chaomin Tang, 1st Prize winner 'Oliver' Hao Li, 2nd Prize winner Stephanie Long, and 3rd Prize winner Dan Woulfin. You can see all the entries in this photo album:
http://aasquared.org/gallery/PHTuanCBWangCenterPhotoContest09

He was so excited by how many good entries there were that next year he is planning an exhibit and reception for all entrants. Check out the new 2010 contest rules at http://www.aaezine.org/TuanWangPhotoContest.

A complete list of graduates getting [AA]2 Leadership Awards is at http://www.aa2sbu.org/aaezine/indexVol21No6.shtml. It is but a small sampling of the many Asian and Asian American students honored for other things in various departments and we wish we knew about all of them to tell you.

A special thanks to everyone who came at 8am to blow up balloons and get everything ready - students Alexei Citver, Jon Hu, Ngoc Vu, and Josh Winslow, and alumni Tuan Le and Fen Zhen Nie - and Fen is even five months pregnant, and to alumna Maria Ng who stayed until the end to help with clean-up.

Ja Young
[AA]2 Co-Chair