Asian American/ Asian Research Institute 11th Annual Gala

Scholarship Recipients

Article by Keen Lee
Photo by William Tam

On Thursday, November 15, 2012, the Asian American/ Asian Research Institute held its 11th Annual Gala at the Jing Fong Restaurant on 20 Elizabeth Street from 6:30 to 10pm.  The event was hosted by Nina Pineda, reporter of WABC-TV Eyewitness News, and we were very honored to be able to participate the gala along with all the Asian and non-Asian academic, business, community leaders, faculty, staff and honor students.

Nina Pineda, reporter of WABC-TV Eyewitness News

Guests enjoyed their dinner as Nina Pineda took the stage to address the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and stressed the importance of the community’s support for those who are affected.  During the gala, she announced the winners of scholarship, 2012 honorees as well as silent auction and donation for victims of Hurricane Sandy.

More than 450 Asian and non-Asian academic, business, civic and community leaders, faculty, staff and students attended the AAARI Gala that evening.  As of Fall 2010, the Asian American representation in CUNY is over 49,000, with more than 4,200 faculty and staff, 4,300 graduate students and 40,500 undergraduates of Asian heritage. Tens of thousands of Asian American CUNY alumni work and live throughout New York and the country.

Joyce Moy, Executive Director of Asian American/Asian Research Institute, opened the banquet that evening. November is CUNY month and Moy introduced all the extraordinary honorees and addressed issues such as poverty that are much needed for the Asian community’s attention.

The 2012 honorees are as follows:

Wayne Ho who is the Executive Director of Coalition of Asian American Children & Families received the leadership award.

Wayne Ho with Joyce Mui, Executive Director of AAARI (Right)

Anthony Chan, the Managing Director & Chief Economist, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Management, took home the CUNY Distinguished Asian American Alumni Award.

Anthony Chan

Sun Mei Liu, from Brooklyn College, is the CUNY Thomas Tam Scholarship Recipient.

Sun Mei Liu

Liang Lin, an undergraduate from Queensborough Community College is the 2012 CUNY Thomas Tam Scholarship Runner-Up.

Liang Lin

Our AsianInNY A-Team Ivy Teng Lei (super young, pretty and talented) is also a recipient of 2012 CUNY Thomas Tam Scholarship Honorable Mention!

It’s a wonderful banquet to present the honorees who support AAARI and be able to network with all the Asian/Asian American leaders on a night in Chinatown!  Also, it’s our pleasure to support AAARI as AAARI engages the Asian American community within CUNY, New York City and beyond.  Keep up the good work!

To know more about AAARI: http://www.aaari.info

For more reviews, please visit www.facebook.com/AsianInNYFans.

Silent auction, a photo donated by Corky Lee

Julie Azuma (Founder of Different Roads to Learning) and Tamio Spiegel (Executive Director of the Gohan Society)

entertaining performance by Bhangra dance

 

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