Students should question place in societal structure

  Kei Nagao Nagao is a graduating senior
majoring in Asian American studies and political science with a
minor in public policy. She is the outgoing director of Asian
Pacific Coalition and a member of Concerned Asian Pacific Islander
Students for Action.

Grace Lee Boggs, a 76-year-old community activist, starts her
biography by stating that if she were not a Chinese American womyn,
she would not be the person who she is today. Boggs explains that
because of her position in society, she was forced to create a more
critical lens to look through.

I find that I can relate to Boggs, as I’m sure many of us
can. If I were not an Asian Pacific American womyn, I would not be
the person I am today.

Being a womyn of color has given me strength and challenged me
to question our societal structure and to fight for positive social
change.

I think it’s a challenge for all of us to meet the
standards that we have created for ourselves, to meet the
expectations of our parents, and to know that we are here because
of the struggles of not only our direct relatives, but of our
sisters and brothers in our communities as well.

UCLA is not only a place for us to discover and appreciate our
community, but it is also a place for us to recognize what role we
play. Being at UCLA is a process of self-discovery of our physical,
mental and emotional capacity to accomplish all of our goals.

I have realized through my experiences at UCLA that the
boundaries that I thought existed when I entered my freshman year
were fueled by my fears and insecurities. I set limits to what
people told me I could accomplish, and I doubted my ability. But
through developing skills to manage my academic, organizational,
work-related and personal responsibilities, I have started to
understand our capacities as students and decided what to do with
my time and energy.

This understanding has created the most crucial question ““
what do we as students do with our time? Our presence on this
campus is just the first step in gaining a relevant education.

What has really made my college experience come alive is being
an active participant in my education through organizing coalitions
to work with other progressive students. Together, we have created
an alternative campus community in which we respect and appreciate
the diversity of all our communities.

We have applied the lessons that we learned from UCLA ““
inside and outside our classrooms ““ to initiate and implement
positive social change for our society. We have tried to uphold the
legacy of our parents, grandparents and ancestors.

Students were not intimidated by restrictions when we fought for
ethnic studies centers and programs, womyn’s studies,
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender studies, tenure for
professors who teach relevant education, change in our admissions
system, worker and immigrant rights, disinvestment from the
apartheid in South Africa and the liberation of our homelands.

Everything has been accomplished through coalition work between
all communities. This year, we were able to move one more step
forward in fighting for access to education in the repeal of the
University of California Regents Standing Policies 1 and 2, which
eliminated affirmative action in UC admissions, hiring and
contracting in 1995.

All of our collective experiences resulted in lessons of
realizing our limitations as people, as well as realizing all that
we have accomplished.

Through joy, laughter and tears, we have gained confidence in
our ability, we have invested ourselves in fulfilling our passions
through our education, we have learned more about ourselves and we
have become empowered.

I’m excited for the future as we build on progressive
student movements and all of us are growing as individuals and as a
collective whole.

But fighting for social justice does not end nor does it just
start during our college years. We should challenge ourselves to
leave our comfort zones and fight for our communities once we leave
college as well.

In graduating from a public university, we all have a
responsibility to give back to our society. For those who have not
had the chance to get more involved, the time is now ““ there
are many opportunities all around you.

As we begin our life after college, I challenge all students to
think about how their accomplishments can be realized as a result
of the sacrifices and contributions of their people before
them.

Boggs talks about spinning spider webs and climbing ladders, and
the importance of collective thinking for the betterment of society
as a whole. I hope we all choose to spin our own spider webs as we
make difficult decisions in the life ahead of us. Congratulations
to everyone in the Class of 2001!