Asian and Pacific Islanders student organizing has taken many forms over the years at UCSB.

The Asian American Studies program at UCSB was established at the same time as Black Studies and Chicano Studies.  While the latter two programs long ago evolved into departments, the growth of Asian American Studies remained stunted for a variety of reasons until 1989.  The Department of Asian American Studies at UCSB was the very first academic department dedicated to the study of Asian Americans at a major research university, and the first department in the United States to offer a Bachelor of Arts degree in Asian American Studies. The Department was founded by Professor Sucheng Chan, a pioneer in our field. Over the years, the Department has consistently offered students the opportunity to study and understand the experiences of Asian Americans, particularly their histories, communities, and cultures.

The Asian and Pacific Islanders Student Union originated in Fall quarter, 1970.  The name of the group has changed from Asian American Alliance, 1970-1974, to Asian Student Union, 1975-1977, to the present APISU.  This was due to the fact that Pacific Islanders were not given the righteous recognition they deserved in the U.S. The contribution of Pacific Islanders as well as Asians in the history of the U.S. has been neglected in the educational institutions of America.  Since the inception of the organization, it has never been inactive.  Extensive files on the organization have been maintained and kept up to date since 1970. 

The UCSB Pilipino Student Union was established in 1977.  The organizational name was changed from Samahang Pilipino to make it easier for others to pronounce by President Lisa Lenida.  Lisa Lenida played a great role in keeping PSU together after it ceased to function during the 1979-1980 school year.  

The Pilipino Student Union consisted of thirty active members and their activities ranged from potlucks, ice cream socials, food sales, massage workshops, book swaps, and backpacking trips.  Major projects for PSU this year included the forming of a Pilipino Dance Troupe and a major cultural festival called Fiesta Sa Nayon.  

Acting in response to UCSB administrations unresponsiveness to the needs and concerns of Asian-American student, staff, and faculty 70 members of the newly created Asian Student Coalition met with Chancellor Barbara Uehling to here their demands for:

During the 1987-1988 academic year, UCSB campus administrators suggested that the Asian American Studies program be merged with the Asian Studies program.  Asian American students strongly opposed the merger.  So did faculty in Asian Studies, who thought Asian American courses were more like encounter groups and functioned more as the hotbed of student activism than "real" university courses.  

When the administration conducted a search in 1988 for a new director.  Sucheng Chan was offered the job.  Upon her appointment, she requested that her title be changed from director to chair to symbolize UCSB's commitment to support Asian American Studies evolution from a program into a department in several years' time. 

The Asian American Studies program at UCSB expanded rapidly.  Enrollment in Asian American Studies courses increased from 472 in 1989-1990, to 616 in 1990-1991, to 1,052 in 1991-1992, and 1,442 in 1992-1993.  During this time [1989-1993], the number of courses offered had doubled from thirteen to twenty-six.  The number of ladder-rank faculty had increased from one to five.  

A.S.I.A.N.  Asian Sisters for Ideas and Action Now!  [formed in] is a diverse collective of political radical women and men.  ASIAN! began as a women's group to provide an organizing space for women to develop leadership skills in an environment free of--or less affected by--male dominance.  Even though men have joined, women, in theory and practice, have the primary leadership roles; there have been few, if any, problems with sexism within the organization; and they implemented a policy that an Asian women (alone or in conjunction with another member) must represent the group at public events. 

We are an action group devoted to uplifting humanity, with a particular interest in improving the conditions facing Asians and Asian American women.  We believe it is imperative to look critically at the root causes of social problems in order to transform society.  Therefore, ASIANS! is guided by an ideology that opposes systems of capitalism, imperialism, racism, patriarchy, and heterosexism.

ASIAN! has invited numerous Asian and Pacific Islander radicals to Santa Barbara for public forums accompanied by potlucks and/or political education studies: Yuri Kochiyama, Rev. Michael Yasutake, Mitsuye Yamada, David Monkawa, Fred Ho, Haunani-kay Trask, and Filipino leaders of BAYAN Rafael Baylosis, Rafael "Ka Paeng" Mariano, and Joe Navidad.

Student for a Progressive Asian American Movement