CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — April is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, a time to recognize the contributions, history, culture and achievements of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans.

UNC-Chapel Hill’s Asian American Center was founded three years ago. According to the university, about 12% of students identify as Asian, the second largest demographic on campus.

What You Need To Know

  • April is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

  • UNC-Chapel Hill’s Asian American Center was founded in 2020

  • According to the university, about 12% of students identify as Asian

  • The space is an academic and community engagement center

“It's really difficult to engage with somebody and think about them as belonging in a place if you don't understand that there's a history to their belonging in that place,” said Krupal Amin, the associate director of UNC’s Asian American Center.

The center was founded in 2020 and is housed in a quaint building on campus.

“I think students really only had more social options, so they have student organizations on campus that focus on social and cultural community and growth. And that's really great in a lot of ways, but it doesn't quite fill the academic need,” Amin said.“I think students really only had more social options, so they have student organizations on campus that focus on social and cultural community and growth. And that's really great in a lot of ways, but it doesn't quite fill the academic need,” Amin said. “We are an academic and community engagement center, and we are trying to ensure that students have access to resources about Asian-American histories, cultures and people.”

Amin is a graduate of UNC and says the university doesn’t offer an Asian-American studies program so she didn’t get that exposure until she did graduate work elsewhere.

“It was a little hard for me to take that with a grain of salt, knowing that, you know, UNC is one of the nation's leading universities. And yet we have these gaps in what we are offering students,” Amin said.

To change that, the center brings in guest speakers for discussions and facilitates ways for students to express themselves through art. Plus, recently, students even traveled across the state to put together a book called “Lunchbox” featuring Asian-American restaurant owners.

“Not just sort of talking about food, but about their families and how they came to their restaurants and how they grew them and what it means to them to be a part of a community,” Amin said.

Amin says this center is meant to be a community resource and believes spaces like this are invaluable.

“I think the more you understand someone and the more you understand things that are different from your own experiences, I think the better you can connect to other people. And I think that's maybe one of the things that the world really needs right now is people being able to connect with each other,” Amin said.

As the Asian American Center grows at UNC, Amin says they want to do more community outreach events and even display art created by students in more public spaces.