Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Dear Highlanders,

Today we begin our celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and I would like to thank the Office of Inclusive Excellence for its work in developing an event that celebrates the Asian American Pacific Islander history, culture and heritage. This event will take place on Monday, May 1st from 3-5 pm in the Central King Building Agile Strategy Lab L-70. We hope you will join the campus community for what should be a wonderful occasion. Recognition months, such as this, are significant not just for our Asian American Pacific Islander community but for everyone who makes up the diverse fabric of the NJIT family. 

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is an annual celebration throughout the month of May that recognizes the historical and cultural contributions of individuals and groups of Asian and Pacific Islander descent. There are more than 23 million people of Asian or Pacific Islander descent in the United States, about seven percent of the total U.S. population. At NJIT, about 22% of our students are AAPI, and many of our distinguished faculty and alumni are of Asian or Pacific Islander descent.

Alumni like Ying Wu, chair of China Capital Group; Jordan Hu, founder and CEO of RiskVal Financial Solutions; Sukla Chandra, senior managing director of GE Licensing and Technology Services; and Gunjan Samtani, partner and head of Goldman Sachs Services India; as well as faculty members such as Yi Chen, Sanchoy Das, Yvette Won, Namas Chandra, Edwin Hou, Interim Provost Atam Dhawan, and so many others have made indelible marks on NJIT.

I often mention that the diversity of NJIT is among its greatest strengths, and the impact of AAPI culture and history – as well as AAPI Highlanders themselves – on our university cannot be overstated.

It has been documented exhaustively that diversity contributes to positive learning outcomes, and work teams that consist of individuals with varied backgrounds, perspectives, ethnicities, races, belief systems, cultures, and socio-economic statuses are proven to achieve greater results than those that lack such diversity. Learning happens when we are exposed to a broad array of perspectives and have the opportunity to share information and knowledge gathered through our lived experiences. This is evident in what we see every day at NJIT.

I, myself, was born and grew up in Malaysia, with Chinese ancestry before coming to the United States as a teenager to pursue a college education.  During the course of my life’s journey, I have been very fortunate to have been exposed to many cultures and different ways of thinking.  We are very fortunate to be at one of the most diverse campuses in the entire nation, and how we respect, treasure, and celebrate our diversity is a badge of honor for NJIT.

Sincerely,

Teik C. Lim

NJIT President