Brian Huynh found the Kapwa Learning Community by accident. He was invited by a friend who said there was a new Asian-American learning community and that he should join. So he gave it a chance.
“Now that I’m here, I think it’s like one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” Huynh said. “Within two or three days of classes, we were all tight-knit as a community.”
Through joining that group, Huynh then co-founded the Asian Pacific Diversity Club and led it as its first president. Back then, they met every other week for 1-1/2 hours online and then in vacant classrooms when students returned to campus from COVID-19.
Now, they have their own space, the KUP Unity Village in room I4-201, that includes both the Umoja and Puente communities.
Nearly 100 students and faculty members celebrated the grand opening of the KUP Unity Village on April 24 which was attended by students in the groups that the rooms are designed for, other groups on campus such as the Promise Program and The Pride Center, and San Diego Mesa College President Ashanti T. Hands, who is a big advocate for these groups that help support students from different backgrounds and experiences.
The KUP Unity Village is a space for Kapwa, a community of Asian American Pacific Islander students, the Umoja program, designed for Black and African American students, and the Puente Project, designed for Latino students, although they welcome all students.
Huynh is one of many students who has been impacted and helped from having a community of people who have similar experiences.
“To get the backing and support at an institutional level, from President Hands herself saying that this is important, demonstrates to us an example that this is what true leadership can look like,” Huynh said.
The school’s other “CommUnity” spaces, which each attended the grand opening, include the Rising Scholars in room I4-204, the Dreamer Resource Center in I4-207, CalWorks in I4-208, the Promise Program in I4-410, the Family Resource Center in LRC-113 and The Pride Center in D102.
