AANHPI Mini-Grant Program

AMA: The Local Series OR Munchies with Mentors

Department: College of Liberal Arts, Communication Studies

Project Lead: Alison Yeh Cheung (3 WTU faculty package)

This project builds on APIDA Initiative’s AMA (Ask Me Anything) Series by focusing on faculty, staff, alumni, and local resources in the SLO area. Cal Poly is home to a wealth of talented faculty and staff whose expertise, experiences, and perspectives offer an invaluable resource for the campus community. Despite the abundance of expertise available in SLO, it can be difficult for students to know where to start or how to make meaningful connections. This speaker series will highlight and increase awareness of APIDA professionals available both on and off campus. For many APIDA students, navigating a predominantly white campus and surrounding community can contribute to feelings of isolation and lack of professional, social, and mentoring networks. By providing a space for students to ask questions and explore areas of interest, the series aims to strengthen relationships among APIDA faculty, staff, alumni, and students while fostering deeper connections between the campus and the broader community. The primary goal of these opportunities for conversation and networking is to help students identify figures who can offer mentorship, career insights, and ongoing support within their local context. The key outcomes of this series include professional development, community engagement, and a more connected and informed campus environment. This series aligns with several AANHPI Initiative goals, especially linking students to faculty, staff, and alumni who represent their diverse identities and/or understand their cultural values to expand on opportunities for professional development, career exploration, and opportunities for resources or funding.

The series will incorporate student leadership through student fellows who will serve as co-facilitators to provide valuable perspectives that help keep the program relevant to student interests and needs. The AMA sessions will follow a more structured, interview-style format with student fellows facilitating the conversation and guiding questions for the speakers, followed by an open Q&A session that encourages attendee engagement and discussion. In the summer and early Fall, I will recruit three student fellows who will help identify topics and potential APIDA speakers, and develop promotional materials and outreach strategies. During the academic year, our team will host monthly AMA sessions and facilitate networking opportunities between students and speakers. Following each session, we will collect participant feedback to inform future programming and assess the series' impact. The following outlines potential topics and speakers to illustrate the types of conversations and learning opportunities the series can provide: 1) Mental Health and Wellbeing speakers Kari Mansager (Cal Poly Wellbeing & Equity) and Cheri Love (LMFT); 2) Photography and Videography speakers Matt Yoon (Cal Poly Senior Videographer) and Stephen and Alisa Heraldo (Community Roots); 3) Food Service & Industry speakers Justin Chan (Sequel Tea) and Theresa Buyco (Ube Soul); 4) Art & Design speakers Linh Dao (Cal Poly Graphic Design) and Chenda Lor (Cuesta College); 5) Law and Government speakers Dr. Shanruo Zhang (Cal Poly Political Science) and Daniel Cheung (SLO County Counsel). This project will help sustain the AMA series and efforts by the APIDA Initiative to encourage relationship-building across campus and the greater community.

BABBLE: Building Belonging Through Filipino American Storytelling and Theatre for Youth

Department: Bailey College of Science and Mathematics, Liberal Studies

Project Lead: Crystal Mercado (3 WTU faculty package)

BABBLE is an original Filipino American play development project that uses theatre as a vehicle for culturally responsive education, mentorship, and community engagement. Led by Crystal Mercado, Assistant Professor of Visual and Performing Arts Education in the Liberal Studies Department, the project will provide Cal Poly students with a high-impact learning experience centered on AANHPI representation, cultural identity, and the power of storytelling.

The project is part of the national Theatre for Young Audiences Superhero Project, led by José Casas (University of Michigan), which commissions playwrights of color to create new superhero-themed plays for young audiences. BABBLE, written by acclaimed Filipina American playwright Mara Palma and developed with Filipina American director and dramaturg Yari Cervas, will ultimately be published in a national anthology.

During a week-long residency, Cal Poly students will work alongside these professional artists as actors and creative collaborators, participating in rehearsals, script discussions, and an iterative new play development process in which the playwright revises the script throughout the workshop. Recruitment will prioritize Filipino and other AANHPI students whose lived experiences can enrich the development of the story while welcoming students of all backgrounds to participate in this collaborative learning experience.

The residency will culminate in a staged reading for a local middle school audience. Liberal Studies students will then apply their learning by designing and facilitating interactive pre- and post-show workshops that engage youth in conversations about cultural identity, family stories, representation, belonging, and pride. Feedback from middle school participants will become part of the ongoing script development, allowing young audiences to contribute to the creation of a new Filipino American work for theatre.

This project directly advances Cal Poly's AANHPI Initiative by increasing the visibility of Filipino American stories, amplifying student voice, fostering belonging through shared cultural experiences, and connecting students with accomplished AANHPI theatre professionals who serve as mentors and role models. At the same time, it prepares future educators to integrate culturally responsive theatre practices into K–12 classrooms, expanding AANHPI representation and curriculum beyond the university. AANHPI funding will also leverage matching support from Bocón, extending opportunities for student participation and community engagement.

Building Environmental Justice Leaders for Climate and Community Resilience

Department: College of Agriculture, Food & Environmental Sciences, Natural Resources Management & Environmental Sciences

Project Lead: Yu Cao (3 WTU faculty package)

This project will create an environmental leadership program for students who are interested in environmental justice, sustainability, community engagement, and climate policy. The project highlights how the AANHPI communities are disproportionately affected by environmental injustices, including toxic waste, water pollution, climate displacement, and cultural concerns. This project will support student belonging, mentorship, and professional development by creating a series of environmental justice and leadership workshops and speaker series that connect students with faculty, staff, alumni, and professionals in environmental management, leadership and justice, and community engagement fields.

Project goals:

1. Examine environmental justice challenges affecting AANHPI communities;
2. Equip students with applied environmental leadership skills to address these challenges, engage community perspectives, communicate across disciplines, and develop actionable solutions;
3. Create reusable AANHPI environmental justice and leadership curriculum materials that can strengthen the department while supporting student learning.

Deliverables: From 2026 to 2027, the project will be implemented through three interconnected components: a skills-based environmental justice workshop series, a speaker series, and a career development and mentorship series.

Expected outcomes include serving 30–50 students; hosting a combination of speaker events, skills-based workshops, career-development activities, and a final showcase; hiring 2 student assistants; helping students build skills in stakeholder mapping, coalition-building, policy analysis, and public communication; and creating one reusable AANHPI environmental justice and leadership curriculum. Assessment will include attendance, student reflections, survey questions, activity outputs, media reports, and a final impact summary. The 3 WTUs would support the faculty time needed to coordinate speakers, mentor students, build curriculum, evaluate outcomes, and sustain the project beyond the grant year.

The Paraw Project at Cal Poly: Toward Building a Filipino Outrigger Canoe Sailboat in San Luis Obispo

Department: College of Liberal Arts, Ethnic Studies

Project Lead: Ryan Buyco (3 WTU faculty package)

A paraw is a Filipino outrigger canoe sailboat associated with the Visayan region of the Philippine archipelago. This project is about studying, designing, and eventually constructing a Filipino paraw on the Cal Poly campus. Inspired by the longstanding efforts of other Pacific communities to safeguard and revitalize their traditional canoe cultural practices, "The Paraw Project" explores how similar canoe activities in the diaspora might contribute to Filipinx American Studies scholarship as well as to the well-being of the Filipino community on the central coast. As a learn-by-doing experience, "The Paraw Project" invites students to engage the paraw—as a living cultural practice—to think about the legacies of US colonization, cultural revitalization in the diaspora, and the Oceanic connections between Filipinos and other Pacific peoples. This mini grant funding will support the development of this project through the purchasing of materials, public programming, faculty time needed to establish campus partnerships, identify appropriate construction space, and, if feasible, begin construction of the paraw.

Advancing Today’s Movements by Learning from the late 20th Century: The Life and Legacy of Merle Woo

Department: College of Liberal Arts, Interdisciplinary Studies in Liberal Arts (ISLA) & Ethnic Studies

Project Lead: Maggie Mang

This project will focus on the release of the first in-depth zine about the life and work of Merle Woo (1941-present). Born and raised in the Bay Area, Merle is a Chinese-Korean American, lesbian, socialist feminist organizer, and educator whose essay ‘Letter to Ma’ was published in the seminal 1981 women of color anthology, ""This Bridge Called My Back."" As a student, Merle participated in the Third World Liberation Front strikes at San Francisco State University (SFSU) and later was one of the first generation of educators to teach at UC Berkeley in the newly formed Asian American studies program. She co-founded Unbound Feet, a feminist Asian American literary and performance collective. Yet despite her life’s work and immense contributions to Asian American history, knowledge of Merle is still unknown, even within Asian American curriculum.

With a team of collaborators engaging in participatory archival methods, including Merle and her family, and with the support of Cal Poly (BEACoN 2024-2025; CLA SURP 2025), Merle’s personal archives have been organized and sold to the Schlesinger Library at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute to be fully digitized and available to the public in the next two years. Mariajose Bazan-Barreda (Art & Design class of 2027) has designed a first-of-its-kind 44-page zine detailing Merle’s life, work, and the process of collectively archiving Merle’s papers. Her zine, which will also soon be archived at Harvard, stands as an example of accessible, creative, and community-based knowledge sharing – a true testament to the “Learn By Doing” ethos.

We hope to use funds from this mini-grant to support print costs of the zine for widespread dissemination (including as classroom teaching materials at Cal Poly and beyond), as well as an on-campus, public exhibit contextualizing Merle’s work in the late 20th century and connecting her life to present-day concerns affecting Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander students. This exhibit will include copies of Mariajose’s zine, in addition to exhibit-style prints of relevant archival documents. We also hope to partner with current Cal Poly students to exhibit their work (e.g. relevant student final projects). In addition, we will be inviting Mich Ling, incoming postdoctoral researcher at the Asian American Studies Department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and who began this participatory archival project with Merle, to give a talk about Merle’s life and how it contributes to curriculum related to aims aligned with the AANHPI Initiative.

BUS 2206: Career Readiness & Professionalism – AANHPI Specialized Section

Department: Orfalea College of Business

Project Lead: Drexler Alcantara

The BUS 2206: Career Readiness & Professionalism – AANHPI Specialized Section will establish a culturally responsive learning community within the Orfalea College of Business that centers the experiences, strengths, and diverse identities of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) students. As BUS 2206 is a required course for all Business Administration majors, this specialized section allows students to fulfill a core degree requirement while participating in programming designed to promote belonging, leadership development, mentorship, and career readiness. The project aligns with Cal Poly's AANHPI Initiatives by advancing student success through intentional community building, professional development, and experiential learning opportunities.

This proposal builds upon the success of the Latinx-focused BUS 2206 section offered during the previous academic year. That cohort demonstrated strong student engagement, meaningful connections with alumni and industry professionals, and positive outcomes related to career confidence, community building, and sense of belonging. The success of this model highlighted the value of culturally responsive career readiness programming and provided a foundation for expanding similar opportunities to additional student communities.

AANHPI students represent a wide range of cultural backgrounds, languages, migration histories, and lived experiences. While often viewed as a single demographic group, many students face unique challenges related to identity development, representation, and navigating professional environments. This specialized cohort will provide opportunities for students to connect their identities and experiences with their academic, leadership, and career development while building meaningful relationships with peers, mentors, faculty, alumni, and professionals.

The program will incorporate mentorship, professional development workshops, alumni engagement, networking opportunities, and experiential learning. Students will engage with AANHPI alumni, business leaders, faculty, and peer mentors who can provide guidance related to internships, career planning, leadership development, and workplace success. Programming will include workshops on networking, personal branding, interviewing, leadership identity, financial literacy, and career exploration, as well as alumni panels, guest speakers, and an industry visit featuring AANHPI professionals across business sectors.

The program's goals are to increase career readiness and professional confidence among AANHPI business students; strengthen students' sense of belonging and connection to Cal Poly; expand access to mentorship, professional networks, and leadership opportunities; increase the visibility of AANHPI professionals and perspectives within business education; and develop a sustainable model for culturally responsive career development programming.

What the Hands Know: AANHPI Timber Traditions in an Age of Automation

Department: College of Architecture and Environmental Design, Architecture

Project Lead: Hua Chai

Across Asia and the Pacific, traditional builders faced the same challenge: how to hold a wooden building together without nails or metal, and each culture answered it in its own way. In East Asia, carpenters shaped the wood itself, cutting the pieces so they interlock like a puzzle and hold under their own weight. In Hawaii and across the Pacific Islands, builders did the opposite: they tied the timbers together so that the binding itself became the joint. Both are forms of knowledge that live in the hands, passed from master to apprentice over the years, and both are growing rare today.

As AI automates design and drawing, What the Hands Know asks what becomes more valuable, not less: the embodied skill a screen cannot hold. The project invites AANHPI students at Cal Poly to learn these traditions by making, using augmented reality (AR) as a bridge between digital model and physical work. Wearing a mixed-reality headset, students see a full-scale 3D model of the joint or lashing projected directly onto the real timber and build site in front of them, so the design appears registered in physical space and they can build directly from it. AR reveals the hidden interior geometry of a cut joint and the wrapping sequence and load path of a lashing, where the order of the turns carries the force. The goal is to connect AANHPI students to their communities' building heritage, to grow a peer learning community through shared making, and to show that AR can transmit craft rather than replace it, while exploring how computational form-finding (using software to discover efficient structural shapes) can pair with AR and AI to extend these traditional joining techniques into more complex geometries than they were ever historically built in.

Many Communities, Shared Stories: A Cross-FSA Book Circle on Identity, Belonging, and Intersectionality

Faculty Staff Associations and Department: APIDAFSA, MFSA, JIFSA, Pride FSA, Kennedy Library

Project Lead: Kari Mansager

The Multiracial Faculty Staff Association (MFSA), APIDA Faculty Staff Association, Jewish Identifying Faculty Staff Association (JIFSA), Pride Faculty Staff Association, and Kennedy Library propose a cross-campus book circle centered on T Kira Madden's memoir, “Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls”.

Madden's memoir explores the intersections of her Native Hawaiian, Chinese Hawaiian, Jewish, queer, and multiracial identities through themes of family, belonging, resilience, and self-discovery. The project will create opportunities for faculty and staff to engage in meaningful dialogue about identity, community, and the ways individuals navigate multiple cultural and social worlds.

Participants will receive a copy of the book and engage in a series of facilitated discussions throughout the semester. Discussions will encourage participants to examine how identity, culture, family history, and community influence individual experiences while fostering understanding across different affinity groups. The project will culminate in a cross-FSA dialogue event focused on belonging, coalition building, and the shared experiences that connect our communities.

Pilipino Cultural Night 38

Student Club: Pilipino Cultural Exchange

Project Lead: Vanessa Go

Pilipino Cultural Night (PCN) is a student-led educational initiative that fosters culturally responsive learning, leadership development, and Asian American Studies through the exploration of Pilipino-American identity, history, and artistic expression. While the project culminates in a campus-wide cultural performance, its primary purpose is to create an intentional learning community where students engage with Pilipino-American experiences, develop leadership and mentorship skills, and strengthen their sense of belonging at Cal Poly. Funding will support educational workshops, guest speakers, cultural learning materials, and student leadership development throughout the PCN process.

Students also participate in Kasayahan (traditional Filipino folk dance), Modern (hip-hop and contemporary dance), Ating Himig (a non-audition choir), and theatrical performance, each serving as a creative medium for preserving and sharing Pilipino-American stories. Throughout the semester, experienced student leaders mentor newer members, cultivating an inclusive environment where participants develop meaningful relationships, confidence, and a strong support network.

The project culminates in Pilipino Cultural Night, a student-run educational production that celebrates Pilipino-American heritage through dance, drama, and music while sharing stories of identity, resilience, and community with the Cal Poly campus.

First-Gen APIDA Advisory Council Initiative

Department: Educational Opportunity Program (EOP)

Project Lead: Gabriela Peralta

Recent findings shared through the Diversity Partners Network (DPN) revealed that APIDA students have diverse experiences that are often overlooked due to the persistence of the model minority stereotype. The findings also showed many APIDA students, when disaggregated, are composed significantly of first-generation, low-income students but have unique perspectives on student success in comparison to their non-APIDA, first-generation peers.

In response, the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) is launchingFirst-Gen APIDA Advisory Council Initiative 2026–2027, which will provide students with meaningful leadership opportunities that support their personal and professional development and help EOP and the broader Cal Poly community build a more culturally responsive service model for AANHPI students.

Through this initiative, we hope to recruit 1–3 EOP, Cal Poly Scholars, or TRiO students who identify as Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) to establish a student-led advisory council. The council will focus on identifying gaps in services, strengthening support for AANHPI students, and fostering a greater sense of belonging within both first-gen and broader Cal Poly communities.

Requested funds will be used to provide student stipends and support student-led workshops, events, meals, and materials for council meetings. Planning and implementation will take place throughout Summer 2026 and the 2026–2027 academic year.

By providing AANHPI, First-Gen students with a platform to share their perspectives and lead meaningful initiatives, we hope to strengthen their sense of belonging while creating more intentional and responsive support systems. While the mini grant funds will conclude in 2027, we will work to make this council self-sustaining for the future.

Nā Alakaʻi o Ka Lāhui (Leaders of the Community)

Department: College of Liberal Arts, World Languages and Culture

Project Lead: Tanya Chroman

Cal Poly faculty, Native Hawaiian community members, Cal Poly students and the Pale Kai Outrigger Canoe Club is using this funding to establish Nā Alakaʻi o Ka Lāhui (Leaders of the Community), a four-hour leadership academy for approximately 50 high school students interested in Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) history, culture, advocacy, and leadership. Through culturally responsive workshops, mentorship, and experiential learning, students will engage with faculty, community leaders, and Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners while exploring the values of aloha (compassion), kuleana (responsibility), laulima (cooperation), pono (integrity), and mālama (stewardship).

The academy seeks to increase students' understanding of AANHPI histories, develop leadership skills grounded in Native Hawaiian values, strengthen confidence and cultural identity, foster mentorship with faculty and community leaders, and encourage civic engagement through teamwork and service.

The target audience is 50 high school students (grades 9–12) interested in leadership, higher education, social justice, and community engagement. The event will be hosted at Morro Bay High School and nearby Coleman Beach.

Faculty and Cal Poly student participation will expose students to higher education pathways while fostering meaningful mentoring relationships. Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners and community partners will ensure cultural authenticity and strengthen community connections. This program will prepare students to become culturally grounded leaders committed to educational success, civic engagement, and service to their communities.

Many Stories, Many Paths: Family, Identity, and Educational Belonging in AANHPI Communities

Department and Faculty Staff Association: Office of the Dean of Students/Students with Dependents, Multiracial Faculty Staff Association

Project Lead: Courtney Moore

The Multiracial Faculty Staff Association (MFSA), in partnership with the Students with Dependents (SWD) Program, AANHPI Initiatives, and campus partners, proposes a campus-wide educational program featuring educator, writer, and advocate Joemy Ito-Gates.

This program will explore how family history, cultural identity, and lived experiences shape educational journeys, leadership development, and belonging. As a multiracial Japanese American educator and storyteller, Joemy's work provides a unique opportunity to engage students, faculty, and staff in conversations about navigating multiple identities, building community, and creating pathways for personal and professional success.

The event will include a public keynote presentation, moderated discussion, interactive storytelling workshop, and networking reception. Particular outreach will be directed toward students with dependents, first-generation students, AANHPI students, multiracial students, and student leaders. The program will create opportunities for participants to reflect on their own experiences while learning how storytelling can serve as a tool for leadership, mentorship, and community engagement.

The project is expected to engage 75–150 participants and create opportunities for continued collaboration among campus departments and affinity groups that support student success, leadership development, and belonging.

Mixed-AANHPI Mental Health: A Photovoice Exploration

Department: Higher Education Counseling & Student Affairs (School of Education, Bailey College of Science and Mathematics)

Project Lead: Jacob Campbell

"According to the 2020 U.S. Census, growth of the Asian (in combination) population is outpacing that of the Asian (alone) population, and over half of the Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (NHPI) population self-reported more than one race. Additionally, Kim et al. (2022) found that multiracial AANHPI students are increasingly applying to college, with American Indian/Alaska Native and Asian applicants (+179%) and Black/African American and NHPI applicants (+177%) representing the fastest-growing subgroups since 2013. While research indicates that multiracial college students are more likely to face mental health challenges (e.g., anxiety, depression, loneliness) than their monoracial peers (Oh et al., 2022), multiracial-specific counseling resources are scare on college campuses (Narvaez & Kivlighan, 2021). Moreover, scholarly attention to the nuanced mental health experiences of mixed-AANHPI college students remains scant.

Aligned with Cal Poly’s “One Ocean, Many Journeys” commitment to the visibility and well-being of the diverse AANHPI student community, this arts-based research project aims to document and display the mental health experiences of mixed-AANHPI students at Cal Poly. A collaborative qualitative research methodology, photovoice is a tool in higher education research that empowers invisibilized groups to use photography to tell their stories and cultivate critical conversations (Wass et al., 2020). While scholars have used photovoice to explore monoracial Asian American college student mental health (e.g., Sevillano et al., 2024), this proposed project centers the mental health experiences of mixed-AANHPI college students, including those who identify as multiracial (e.g., Black and Native Hawaiian) and/or multiethnic (e.g., Filipinx and Hmong). Our focus on mixed-AANHPI students at Cal Poly is significant since Two or More Races data are rarely disaggregated, and the CSU application restricts students to selecting only one sub-category per race, masking multiethnic students.

At the intersection of racism and ableism and with a focus on Asian Americans in academia, Khúc (2024) describes a pedagogy of unwellness as “the understanding that we are all differentially unwell” (p. 5). Acknowledging that mixed-AANHPI college students additionally navigate monoracism, a system of power that privileges singular, separate racial categorization and pathologizes multiraciality as perpetual identity confusion and crises (Johnston and Nadal, 2010), this project explores the following research question: What does un/wellness look like for mixed-AANHPI college students at Cal Poly?

With support from the Cal Poly AANHPI Initiatives Mini-Grant Program, we hope to offer two undocufriendly fellowships to support graduate student researchers in the Higher Education Counseling and Student Affairs program who will support data collection, analysis, and dissemination. Study findings will inform the creation of a digital resource guide to support mixed-AANHPI student wellness at Cal Poly, which we plan to launch at a culminating event featuring student photography hosted in partnership with the Multiracial Faculty/Staff Association.

Cal Poly Maritime Academy Hawaii Welcome Event

Department: Admissions & Recruitment Office

Project Lead: Teri Ann Matsuda

Hosting a Cal Poly Maritime Academy Welcome Event in Hawaii to serve a community that supports a majority of AANHPI students and their supporters. Parents and supporters play a critical role in the decision-making process for students when they are deciding whether to confirm a university admission offer. This is especially true for those students that are looking to go to a university that is over 2000 miles away. By bringing welcome events for newly accepted to their hometown at a local venue, Cal Poly Maritime Academy can more easily incorporate parents and supporters into the conversation about the benefits of attending college and Cal Poly Maritime Academy and answer questions or concerns for both students and their supporters. This also will help eliminate barriers due to airline expenses for flying to Solano for low-income families or that have time constraints.

Below are some Cal Poly Maritime Academy historical data points that support the impact this would have directly on the AANHPI community in Hawaii.

• For Fall 2026, 34 total first year and transfer applicants applied from Hawaii, and 21 identified as AANHPI or multi-racial on the application ethnicity selection. This accounts for 62% of applicants identifying as AANHPI.
• All 34 applicants were admitted however 10 students confirmed. 60% enrolling identify as AANHPI or multi-racial.

The outcomes for this welcome event include increasing the annual yield and enrollment percentages for Cal Poly Maritime Academy for Fall 2027 accepted applicants from Hawaii for students who identify as AANHPI or multi-racial. Another desired outcome is increasing student and supporter engagement and support within a predominantly AANHPI community. Showcase current AANHPI students and provide them leadership opportunities to speak about their experiences on campus.

Chinese New Year Banquet

Student Club: Cal Poly Chinese Students' Association

Project Lead: Lauren Lee

Founded in 1953, the Chinese Students Association (CSA) is proud to be one of the largest and longest-standing cultural organizations on campus at Cal Poly SLO. As a social-cultural club, CSA fosters a vibrant, inclusive community that celebrates Chinese culture and creates a “home away from home” for students of all backgrounds and years, regardless of Chinese descent. Through a yearlong series of cultural, social, and educational events, CSA cultivates connection, inclusivity, and leadership development aligned with Cal Poly’s AANHPI Initiatives.

Each year, CSA hosts the Chinese New Year Banquet (CNYB), which serves as a cornerstone event that celebrates Chinese heritage, fosters intercultural connection, and strengthens the sense of belonging among AANHPI students and the broader campus community.

The CNYB embodies the mission of Cal Poly’s AANHPI Initiatives by creating a culturally responsive learning environment that uplifts AANHPI voices and traditions. This annual banquet serves as both a cultural showcase and a community‑building experience, blending education, performance, and celebration. Through traditional cuisine, student‑led performances, and storytelling, the event highlights the richness of Chinese culture while encouraging appreciation across diverse communities. Funding will support venue costs, decorations, catering, and outreach efforts to ensure accessibility and inclusivity. The banquet also provides leadership and professional development opportunities for CSA members, who plan, coordinate, and execute the event through committees which altogether bring valuable experience in project management, teamwork, and cultural advocacy.

The Chinese New Year Banquet stands as a vibrant expression of cultural celebration, leadership development, and community engagement, advancing the goals of Cal Poly’s AANHPI Initiatives while enriching the campus experience for all.

Scholars Explore: San Francisco - Asian Art Museum

Department: Cal Poly Scholars

Project Lead: Ana Garcia

Cal Poly Scholars is a student success program that serves students from low-income backgrounds, predominantly first-generation California students, by providing financial, academic, and community resources. Our Scholars Explore initiative provides Year 2 plus students with immersive educational experiences that extend learning beyond the classroom while fostering belonging, cultural humility, and community. Building on the success of previous Scholars Explore trips, we propose a Scholars Explore: San Francisco – The Asian Art Museum experience during the 2026–27 academic year. This project centers the experiences of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHP) Cal Poly Scholars while welcoming participation from Scholars of all backgrounds. The project also aligns with Cal Poly’s AAHPI initiative by creating culturally responsive learning opportunities that center AANHPI intercultural learning, community building, and a deeper appreciation of diverse perspectives.

Since launching Scholars Explore in Fall 2024, the program has connected students with culturally significant sites throughout California. Our inaugural trip to Morro Bay introduced students to the history of the Chumash and Salinan peoples, as well as the first recorded landing of Filipinos in Morro Bay. During the 2025–26 academic year, Scholars visited the San José Museum of Art and MACLA (Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana), where they also participated in alebrije and paper-weaving workshops led by visiting artists. Due to overwhelming interest and additional funding, we expanded the program to serve 70 Cal Poly Scholars, EOP, and Trio Achievers through two separate trips.

For the 2026–27 academic year, we seek to support two Scholars Explore trips to the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, allowing us to meet the growing demand and interest in the Scholars Explore program. Participants will take a docent-led tour of the museum's collections, followed by an interactive art workshop facilitated by the Asian Art Museum education team. The trip will provide opportunities to explore AANHPI histories, artistic traditions, and contemporary cultural narratives through hands-on learning. Throughout the day, students will build meaningful connections with one another by traveling together, participating in guided discussions and reflection activities, and engaging collaboratively in the workshop. Because this is a full-day trip requiring several hours of travel, grant funding will also support providing lunch for participants, ensuring students can fully engage in the experience without financial barriers. This opportunity is also made possible through the collaboration with The Asian Art Museum, which is providing free admission, docent tours, and art workshops. We are so thankful for the collaboration and excited to continue working with them to bring students back in the spring semester.

Club Costume Affordability Project

Student Club: Cal Poly Chinese Student’s Association

Project Lead: Gabriella Yu

ShanWu is a student-run dance group under the Chinese Student’s Association (CSA) dedicated to bringing the art of traditional Chinese dance to Cal Poly. ShanWu provides an opportunity for students of all backgrounds to engage in the traditional artform and foster a sense of appreciation for cultural expression. With the dance group’s growth and the rising cost of performance attire, the need for subsidized costs for performers is becoming evermore apparent. By creating a more affordable costuming option for students, ShanWu intends to ensure that all members have equitable access to participate in performances and engage in cultural dance. This project enhances the new AANHPI initiative on campus by providing access to culturally relevant experiences to more students within the community. Affordability for our costuming allows us to explore different variations of traditional Chinese dance with more authenticity.

These funds will support the three major dance performances on campus: Culturefest (~late October), Illuminate (~late February), and Lanternfest (~late April). However, we also perform for CSA and off campus events: CSA’s Thanksgiving Banquet (late November), CSA’s Chinese New Year Banquet (early February), and AAPI SLO (~mid May). Additionally, with progress towards more affordable costuming for our performers, ShanWu hopes to bring traditional Chinese dance to more venues, sharing the cultural art form to larger audiences. "

Cal Poly Andaaz Family and Friends Night

Student Club: Cal Poly Andaaz

Project Lead: Alisha Singhal

The Andaaz Friends & Family Night is a cultural event meant to honor and celebrate South Asian culture among other Cal Poly students, as well as foster a sense of belonging and appreciation. As the competitive South Asian fusion dance team at Cal Poly, Andaaz seeks to use this event to showcase the beauty of our dances as we prepare for competitions.

In addition, in this year's event, we aim to build on what was done previously by organizing it in the Chumash Auditorium and creating an interactive atmosphere for participants. We will present our competition set, provide food, and cultural games and activities. Furthermore, we plan to invite other AANHPI student organizations and cultural performance groups to participate in this event, giving them a chance to showcase their abilities and culture.

The project aligns with Cal Poly's AANHPI Initiatives by fostering a culturally responsive community through inclusion, leadership, mentoring, and cultural education. With the involvement of other student organizations, members would acquire leadership, event coordination, and community-building skills to foster an atmosphere that enables interaction and learning among students.

We hope that this program will help with promoting awareness and respect for South Asian culture, building ties among AANHPI student groups, creating new opportunities for collaboration, and cultivating an open campus environment that embraces diverse cultural identities.

Begin by confirming your eligibility for the AANHPI Mini-Grant Program and assessing your ability to successfully complete the proposed project. Requests can be made for $500-$5,000. Up to four Faculty Packages (WTUs plus $5000-6000) will be awarded.

• For students, consider your club's capacity, existing funds, ability to execute intended projects, and ensure active student organization status.
• For faculty and staff, consider your department’s capacity, assess current student and staff support opportunities, and ensure grant will support a new or existing initiative.

Proceed by collecting all the necessary information to draft content for your proposed mini-grant project. 

• Project Lead and Contact Email
• Campus Affiliation
• Project Name
• Project Description and Timeline (include project timeline, outcomes, and goals—up to 500 words)
• Amount of Funding Requested and Budget Outline
• Type of Accounts Where Funds Will be Transferred (ie: Chartfield String)

To apply for an AANHPI Mini-Grant, please review “Step 2: Collect Necessary Information” section and fill out the AANHPI Mini-Grant application.

After you submit your application, a committee will review all project proposals. Approval of mini-grant applications will take place within a few weeks after the submission deadline, and recipients will be notified thereafter. This notification will likely come during the summer break, so please be on the lookout for this email.

If you are selected to receive a mini-grant, CIX will contact you via email. We will ask recipients from departments across campus to be ready to connect with their Budget Analyst to help facilitate fund transfer.

To help us assess the impact of your mini grant project, you will need to complete an end of year impact report  which includes information on the following:  

• An overview of the activities, services, or programs executed with the funds
• Total number of people served with grant funds
• Demographic information about the people served
• Description of any changes to the program from original proposal
• Greatest impact/outcomes (please provide data if possible) and greatest challenges
• Vision for sustaining the project/program efforts beyond fund
• Submit high-resolution photos of your project to be featured during Cal Poly AANHPI Initiatives events