WSU THIRD WORLD ALLIANCE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: WSU Media Relations
508-100-3000
mediarelations@gmail.com

Standing in Solidarity with Asian American and Pacific Islanders

WORCESTER MA- Worcester State University hosted a virtual event on April 13, 2021 to speak
out about the violence and racism against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. The
event was hosted and sponsored by the Third World Alliance, the History and Political Science
Department, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the BIAS Incident Response Team and the
President’s Office.

Business professor Lingling Wang, spoke on how as citizens we need to educate ourselves and
make sure the violence stops. Along with professor Wang, Professor Yu talked about how
violence has escalated due to the Covid-19 and that we must always have an ongoing fight
against hate. Student Vina Le talked about how she has to confront racism in her daily life and
named the six Asian women who were killed in the Atlanta Spa Shooting that took place on
March 16, 2021.

Along with talking about how Le confronts racism in her daily life, she described the experiences
she has encountered. Le stated that her family receives strange looks while at the grocery store
and that her mother has been asked to wear a mask along with a face shield so people won’t get
Covid-19 from her.

Adjunct Professor Lihua Wang discussed Asian-American hate and stated that “Asian American
hate has increased 150% more with COVID-19.” She also stressed that there seems to be a lack
of knowledge on campus on Asian American hate and that students or faculty do not understand
how long it has been around. With the lack of knowledge, she has offered classes on Asian
American history but not enough enrolled which leaves Worcester State University offering no
classes on Asian American history at this time.

Wang stated “I really wish after this meaningful conversation, we can translate our conversation
into a social action rather than just talk about the problem and check off a box that we did this
event.”

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Numerous other faculty members voiced their concerns on the racism against Asian Americans,
Asian women and how we need to evoke change in our communities and around the world.

This event allowed professors and students to discuss the hate and racism that is targeting Asian
Americans and show that Worcester State stands in solidarity with these communities. In order to
make change, it allowed students and faculty to understand the struggles with racism in the world
today.

To learn more about the Third World Alliance who helped sponsor this event, visit
https://www.worcester.edu/Third-World-Alliance/.

About the Third World Alliance.

Third World Alliance is a student organization dedicated to promoting inclusion, multicultural

diversity and enhancing pluralism on campus along with the community. The organization hosts
events to inform, educate, encourage conversations around the topics related to racially or
ethnically diverse issues.
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