In the Winter Quarter of the 2023-2024 academic year, GROW officially returned after a year in hiatus with their ETHN 198: Directed Group Studies course to learning, documenting, and recording the history of AAPI activism at UC San Diego. In this all femme and Filipina-identifying cohort, group members captured the oral histories of those who played a crucial part in the legacy of AAPI activism and advocacy. At the end of the quarter, the group reflection on their experience in GROW and how they hope to see this archival initiative continue to flourish:

In addition to the member’s oral history projects, the cohort listened to guest speakers talk about their experiences as former UC San Diego student leaders. Each speaker provided not only context to historical moments at UCSD, but also provided “artifacts” to the GROW students.

Thank you to all the guest speakers in our class for sharing their wisdoms:

• Alanna Aiko Moore (she/her/hers): Geisel Library Department Head of Community Engagement and Inclusion, Ethnic Studies Librarian
• Thomas Thao (he/him/his): UCSD Alumna, Executive Director at New Millennium Academy
• Donald Donaire (they/them): UCSD Alumna
• Moe Abugan (she/they): UCSD Alumna, writer and multimedia artist
• Carmela Capinpin (she/her): UCSD Alumna
• Johnny Nguyen (he/him): UCSD Alumna
• Joseph Ruanto Ramirez (he/they): UCSD Alumna, Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies – Asian American Studies at Southwestern College

This cohort also had the unique opportunity to collaborate with Professor Erin Sasaki’s ETHN 201 graduate seminar to discuss decolonizing the archive and understand the significance of oral history. In the first three weeks of the quarter, the two cohorts met together to critically analyze readings and personal experiences in archiving. During week ten, the two cohorts had met together again to celebrate our personal projects and reflect on our work in community.