2025 Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Leigh Hellman | Posted on April 23, 2025
The image has multicolored flowers in a stained glass style on the top half of the background and solid purple on the bottom half of the background. Small white text reads “Center for Student Involvement Presents” with large, stained glass stylized text under that which reads “APIDAAM 25”. Beneath the large text is more small white text which reads “Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Awareness Month”. Then there is medium-sized text that reads “Celebrating the Colors of ” in gold and “Culture and Courage” in light purple. At the bottom of the image is a link to the full list of events and the UIC logo in white.

APIDA Awareness Month
April 1 – April 30

Previously known as Asian American Awareness Month (AAAM), Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Awareness Month (APIDAAM) embraces a new name to foster inclusivity for all Asian-identifying and Pacific Islander-identifying communities.

This year’s theme, “Celebrating the Colors of Culture and Courage,” highlights the vibrancy, resilience and diverse experiences within these communities at UIC.

Tuesday, April 1 @ 5pm
Canvas of Culture

Thursday, April 17 @ 5pm
Anime/K-Pop Convention

Wednesday, April 23 @ 7pm
APIDAA Month: Open Mic

 

History of Asian American Awareness Month at UIC

The first Asian American Awareness Week at UIC was organized by the Coalition for Asian American Studies in March 2000. They also held a protest and rally to lobby for an Asian American Studies program, a cultural center, and an academic support network.

In March 2001, the Coalition for Asian American Studies expanded the event into Asian American Awareness Month.

For Asian American Awareness Month in 2003, members of the Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Asian Americans joined the planning committee. Events spanned the months of March and April.

For AAAM in 2003 and 2004, the Chancellor’s Committee was the host organization for the planning committee. In 2005, that role was passed to the Asian American Resource & Cultural Center.

As of 2018, the planning of Asian American Awareness Month is coordinated by the UIC Center for Student Involvement with support from AARCC.

 

Asian American Resource and Cultural Center (AARCC)

Tuesday, April 8: Campus Safety Fair for Ruth George’s birthday

Thursday, April 17; 6pm – 8pm
AARCC’s 20th Anniversary Celebration

 

Asian American Student Academic Program (AASAP)

AASAP Alumni Career Panel

AASAP welcomed alumni Vaidehi Suriyanarayanan, Abby Mohann and Krystal Ng for a day of learning on Janaury 29. Students gathered to learn more about how these possibility models are navigating life after college, choosing a career path and their adventures in adulting! During the session, the speakers shared perspectives and tips on networking as Asian Americans who are often uncomfortable speaking about their accomplishments, and the participants had time to practice these new skills in a welcoming environment. After the event, the alumni hung out at AASAP and continued the conversations for hours afterward over tea!

 

Advising 101 with AASAP 

In Advising 101 held on January 30, AASAP joined forces with Asian American advisors from across the UIC campus to coach students on maximizing their academic resources within the context of culturally relevant academic advising. AASAP’s academic advising model emphasizes holistic personalized support, engagement with student identities and cultural backgrounds and representation through Asian American academic advisors. AASAP Academic Advisors Eli Vang, Ahyen Labanan (LAS), Hideaki Noguchi (LAS) and Lahney Vilayhong (Engineering) provided guidance on how to do initial outreach to advisors and shared tips on self-advocacy. Students also directly connected with academic advisors at the event, discussing how to make the most out of their UIC academic journeys!