Founding Board
Michelle Fan
Chicago, IL
University of Michigan
I joined the board of University of Michigan's Chinese Student Association (CSA) during my freshman year. Through CSA, I was able to meet so many new people and to learn more about my identities. Since CSA had impacted me so positively, I thought MCASA could have the same impact on others as well. In addition, many schools across the Midwest do not have Chinese or Chinese American student associations, so I wanted there to be a space for people who did not have one on their campus.
James Liu
Saint Johns, Michigan
Michigan State University
What inspired me to help create MCASA was the need for a space for Chinese Americans across the Midwest to connect and be able to share their stories and experiences. One of the biggest goals of the founding board was to be able to create a conference where organizations could share their ideas, events, etc.
Yeeling Li
Novi, MI
Central Michigan University
What inspired me to be a part of the founding board was the opportunity to begin an organization where Chinese American students from across the Midwest can share their experiences with one another. I hoped for an organization that allowed us enhance our Chinese American identity, discuss common social issues, and eventually develop a family-like dynamic.
Vicky Lee
Prior Lake, MN
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
During my junior year of college, I felt like I had been a part of the UMN CASA community for a while. I noticed my friends in different boards would get really pumped up to go to a conference every year except CASA. I wanted us to connect with students across our state borders and well and wanted to create an opportunity to meet new people every year. I hoped that people didn't feel confined to their own college or even state. We can relate to each other whether you're from Minnesota or Kansas. I remember I was so excited that I started messaging CASAs around the midwest during downtime at work. It was amazing the amount of support and interest that came from the first message. I could tell that everyone had either thought about this before or have just been waiting for the right opportunity. This was something that would've happened eventually, but it just so happened to be the right time that year.
Glyn He
Naperville, IL
The Ohio State University
There are so many regional conferences for other APIDA organizations, but there weren’t really any available in the Midwest for Chinese/Chinese Americans.
Michelle Li
Solon, Ohio
The Ohio State University
I helped with MCASA because it was the founding year and I thought it would be a great opportunity to create a voice for Chinese Americans in the Midwest. It was crazy to me that Chinese Americans did not already have a conference and unity. MCASA also seemed like a great opportunity to grow and create a community that was bigger than just each individual school. I also found that it would be a great place to develop and meet leadership from around the midwest.
Calvin Zhu
Aurora, IL
University of Chicago
I was excited to help connect Chinese American students across the schools in our region, and to learn from each other. It was a lot of fun working with everyone to put together the first conference, and rewarding when it went successfully.
Jordan Peyton
Fort Worth, Texas
Kansas State University
I was inspired by James’ passion to create an organization to bring Chinese-Americans together. His leadership drew me in and made me feel like as a team everyone on the founding board created a sense of community that will last for many many years.
Kristie Lam
Fremont, CA
The Ohio State University
We wanted to build community specifically among Chinese American students in the Midwest. We were inspired by MAASU and UVSA and felt we could grow our communities from local CASAs to a regional community!
Rongjuanying Deng
Zhuhai, Guangdong
Michigan State University
I wanted to partake in starting MCASA because I wanted to advocate for and celebrate our culture, as well as to serve Chinese American students in the Midwest. With the limited resources and representation we as minorities have in the US, a community and a platform allowing discussions is essential in making changes and bettering the life for current and future Asian American students and scholars.