In alignment with Cal State Fullerton’s annual celebration of Asian Pacific Islander South Asian American Heritage Month, the university will host a number of events in support of those who identify as APISAA, including the Titan Table Talk “Empowering APISAA Communities.”

Born out of the racial awakening that occurred in 2020 during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Titan Table Talk is a monthly dialogue webinar designed to engage the campus and community in topics surrounding racial equity. The talks occur three to four times a semester and are a joint effort co-hosted by CSUF President Fram Virjee, the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Programs, the Office of Government Relations and the Alumni Foundation.

This year’s Titan Table Talk theme is “empowerment,” and with that focus, it has been the priority of the university to shape the programming around both local, regional and national Heritage Month recognition events — and specifically this month — the empowerment of the APISAA community. The talks shed light on understanding how this community is empowered personally, emotionally, intellectually and economically.

“The goal of the university is to bring about inclusion and foster belonging on our campus, and that means recognizing members of certain communities and giving them a platform to talk about topics that are relevant to them,” said Philip L. Vasquez, director of CSUF’s Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Programs. “This also gives people who are not part of that community at Cal State Fullerton a chance to engage in those discussions and hear multiple perspectives on certain topics.”

The webinar, held Tuesday, was hosted by Jennifer Yee, professor of Asian American Studies at CSUF. Panelists included Tammy Kim, vice mayor of Irvine, Malofou Sagiao, Jr., director of Veteran Services at Irvine Valley College and a 2015 CSUF graduate, and Kathy Yu, inclusion & outreach specialist at Pixar Animation Studios and a 2010 CSUF graduate. Yu also serves as the director of the university’s Alumni Association Board of Directors.

Panelists invited for Titan Table Talk are typically from the community represented and often include CSUF alumni who speak on their personal and professional experience as it relates to the selected theme. Cal State Fullerton is a federally designated Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution, and as of the fall 2022 semester, the university had 21.8% of its 40,386 students identify as Asian.

“We have been in a political climate and a social climate in our country, our state, and even our county and city that have brought to the attention that there are always groups around us who might be struggling with and encountering racism and different forms of oppression, whether that be economic or interpersonal,” Vasquez said.

Additionally, Vasquez noted that the APISAA identity group is large and includes many different ethnicities and languages, making events like Titan Table Talk all the more important when it comes to representation.

“Giving a faculty member and panelists an opportunity to really disrupt a lot of stereotypes or issues that people might not understand fully is the goal of Titan Table Talk,” Vasquez said. “It’s to help disrupt a lot of misconceptions, but also to provide an empowering opportunity for people to share stories of their experiences with people at Cal State Fullerton.”

Titan Table Talk is free and open to anyone in the community. Registration is required for the provided Zoom link, and any questions about the event can be directed to [email protected]. There has been significant and tangible engagement with this format over the past few years, and Vasquez and his team are excited about the prospect of expanding the reach of Titan Table Talk and possibly shifting the programming to more in-person events and activities.

“I’m looking forward to the future,” Vasquez said, “and how we can possibly evolve Titan Table Talk to be a program that fulfills the opportunity for people to engage with identity discussions but also provide educational opportunities for members of the community who want to learn more.”

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