Asian, Asian American, Pacific Islander Employee Resource Group (AAAPI ERG)
Our Mission
The effort to form the AAAPI ERG was initiated by several colleagues who came together to support one another, led by Susan Cheng, senior associate dean for diversity, equity & inclusion and associate professor of family medicine at the School of Medicine, Jesse Szeto, Jocelyn B. de Guzman and Jaime Brown.
“Over the past two years of anti-Asian bias, violence and xenophobia heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have recognized a need to come together and support one another more,” says Cheng. “While identifying a need, there is also great joy in forming and building community and solidarity across Georgetown University.”
The AAAPI Employee Resource Group (AAAPI ERG) strives to support and sustain a network of professionals (faculty and staff) whose objective is to celebrate, empower and advance AAAPI identifying employees and allies at Georgetown University.
Our mission is to center AAAPI employees at Georgetown University and their distinct experiences, creating an inclusive, equitable, and just workplace environment. We envisionan institution in which AAAPI employee voices are amplified through civic engagement, leadership cultivation, and advocacy.
Announcements
As the fall semester gets underway after an eventful summer, we’d like to start this month’s newsletter by expressing our gratitude to a few individuals who have made an outsized impact on our Asian, Asian American & Pacific Islander ERG community:
Thank you to ERG volunteers Sandy Lee and Hannah Hahn for conducting a fair and thorough elections process. Their leadership has been invaluable, and we’re incredibly appreciative for their work, which brought us to another exciting summer development:
Thank you and a very warm welcome to Saurabh Mitra and Katie Fan for joining us as the newest members of the AAAPI ERG Executive Board! Both have been enthusiastic participants in our past events, and now they are stepping up as our new Communications/Events/Membership Chair and our new Medical Center Representative. We’re so grateful they’ve joined our board — excited to see their contributions unfold!
Thank you to two board members who have recently stepped into emeritus roles: Susan Cheng and David Mao. Susan has joined the leadership team at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo , while David has been named the Librarian of the Supreme Court of the United States . We couldn’t be prouder of their achievements and we’re lucky they both maintain ongoing affiliations with Georgetown. Their leadership and friendship have made a lasting impact on our group.
Please read on for more group member shout-outs following our events/resources round-up below!Upcoming Events (at Georgetown)
Upcoming Events (at Georgetown)
Georgetown AAAPI (Asian, Asian American Pacific Islander)
Employee Resource Group (ERG)
joins the Disability ERG and the Office of Campus Ministry
in warmly inviting you to our second annual:
AAAPI ERG + Disability ERGJoint Retreat
Tuesday, April 15th, 2024
9:00am ET to 4:00pm ET
Calcagnini Contemplative Center, Bluemont, VA
Thanks to the generous support of the Office of Campus Ministry, we are excited to co-host an intersectional retreat designed for members of our AAAPI ERG and Disability ERG communities. All GU employees are welcome to participate!
With some parts of the retreat being interactive and other parts devoted to quiet reflection, we are excited to invite you to this convening as an affirmation of the many identities we each bring with us to Georgetown – and a deepening of our commitment to one another.
This event is free, with a light breakfast/coffee and lunch provided, and is open to all Georgetown employees, though specifically tailored to goals communicated by Disability ERG and AAAPI ERG leaders. Participating in this retreat is a fully excused absence, a professional development experience that counts as a day of work, per our agreement with GUHR before establishing this retreat. If you are unsure you will get permission from your manager, please reach out to AAAPI ERG co-chair Anupam (ac432@georgetown.edu ) so he can work with you directly to facilitate your participation.
Because parking is exceedingly limited at the Calcagnini Center, we strongly recommend you take the provided shuttle service (departing from the Hilltop bus turnaround, in front of McDonough Gym, at 9am on 4/15) to get to the CCC.
Hope you can make it!
This program is in-person and open to all who can participate in our morning community circle at 10am. This event is ASL interpreted and wheelchair accessible. For accessibility requests, please use the registration link. If you have any questions or concerns,
please do not hesitate to reach out to us at aaapi@georgetown.edu .
Recent Programming
October 3, 2024 | FY25 Q1 Town Hall
Big thanks to everyone who joined us for our first virtual Town Hall of the academic year! We are so grateful to have been joined by Ejaz Baluch, Jr., senior trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice specializing in Employment Litigation. He shared fascinating insights and findings from his detail with the White House Initiative on Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI), including:
The impact of disaggregated data seen through the “WHIAANHPI 2024 National Overview”
Ways to get involved, starting with signing up for the WHIAANHPI newsletter
September 26, 2024 | Staff/AAP Appreciation Picnic on Leavey Esplanade
Upcoming Events (Local/Community)
Bloomberg: “AI Detectors Falsely Accuse Students of Cheating—With Big Consequences”
(Shared by Anupam) “The students most susceptible to inaccurate accusations are likely those who write in a more generic manner, either because they’re neurodivergent like Olmsted, speak English as a second language (ESL) or simply learned to use more straightforward vocabulary and a mechanical style, according to students, academics and AI developers. A 2023 study by Stanford University researchers found that AI detectors were “near-perfect” when checking essays written by US-born eighth grade students, yet they flagged more than half of the essays written by nonnative English students as AI-generated. OpenAI recently said it has refrained from releasing an AI writing detection tool in part over concerns it could negatively affect certain groups, including ESL students.”
Reminders
Please stay in touch with us with your ideas, feedback, and/or interest in volunteering via email, our Instagram profile , or through our anonymous feedback form .
More information about board elections coming soon! Please send us an email at aaapi@georgetown.edu with your questions about any of our open positions (Faculty Co-Chair, Communications/Events/Membership Chair, and Medical Center Representative).
Resources
- AAPI Tool Kit
- View slides from the Town Hall Meeting (June 15, 2023)
- What should we do next? Fill out our Summer (& beyond) Availability form
- How are we doing so far? Email us here or use the anonymous feedback form
