On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court overturned affirmative action, disrupting the use of race-conscious admissions policies in American universities. The "Navigating Asian American Perspectives on Affirmative Action" panel brings together a diverse group of scholars and community leaders to engage in a nuanced discussion about the views surrounding affirmative action. Recognizing the complex and varied experiences within the Asian American community, this panel aims to shed light on the range of perspectives, including both support and critique, regarding affirmative action policies. Through thoughtful dialogue, personal stories, and scholarly insights, the panel seeks to navigate the complexities of affirmative action, explore its impact on Asian American students alongside all communities of color, and foster a deeper understanding of the issues at stake.

Join Asia Society Northern California on Aug 3 from 2:00 - 3:30 PM to hear a data briefing from Neil G. Ruiz, Pew Research Center's Head of New Research Initiatives, entitled "Asian Americans Hold Mixed Views Around Affirmative Action."

The complexities of the SCOTUS affirmative action ruling will then get unpacked in a panel discussion by OiYan Poon, Program Officer at the Spencer Foundation and co-PI at the College Admissions Futures Co-Laborative; Robert Teranishi, Professor at UCLA and appointee by President Obama to the Board of Directors of the National Board of Education Services; and Natasha Warikoo, Professor at Tufts University and author of several acclaimed books on affirmative action. This discussion will be moderated by Bill Ong Hing, Professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law. 

Panel speakers will also hold space for attendee Q&A, to clarify and engage with any questions about this pressing subject, with particular relevance for Asian Americans. 

Speakers: 

Professor Bill Ong Hing is an expert in Immigration Policy, Race Relations, Migration Studies, Public Service Strategies, and Asian American Legal History. He is current faculty at the University of San Francisco School of Law, where he helps to direct the Immigration & Deportation Defense Clinic. Throughout his career, he has pursued social justice by combining community work, litigation, and scholarship. He is founder and continues to serve as general counsel of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. He also serves on the National Advisory Council of the Asian American Justice Center and is an advisor to the Black Alliance for Justice Immigration. He is the author of numerous academic and practice-oriented books and articles on immigration policy and race relations. His books include American Presidents, Deportations, and Human Rights Violations (Cambridge Univ. Press 2019), Ethical Borders - NAFTA, Globalization and Mexican Migration (Temple Univ. Press 2010), Deporting Our Souls - Values, Morality and Immigration Policy (Cambridge Univ. Press 2006), Defining America Through Immigration Policy (Temple Univ. Press 2004), To Be An American, Cultural Pluralism and the Rhetoric of Assimilation (NYU Press 1997); Making and Remaking Asian America Through Immigration Policy (Stanford Press 1993). His most recent book, Humanizing Immigration: How to Transform Our Racist and Unjust System (Beacon Press 2023), will be released in October. He was co-counsel in the U.S. Supreme Court asylum precedent-setting case INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca (1987) and also represented the State Bar of California before the California Supreme Court in In re Sergio Garcia (2014) involving bar membership for undocumented law graduates.  

Dr. OiYan Poon is a Program Officer at the Spencer Foundation, an Associate Professor Affiliate of Higher Education Leadership and former director of the Race & Intersectional Studies for Educational Equity (RISE) Center at Colorado State University, and a Visiting Faculty Specialist at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she is co-PI at the College Admissions Futures Co-Laborative. Her research focuses on the racial politics and discourses of college access, higher education organization and policy, affirmative action, and Asian Americans. After earning her Bachelor’s degree at Boston College and M.Ed. in College Student Affairs Administration at the University of Georgia, OiYan worked in multicultural student affairs, as the first Asian Pacific American Student Affairs director at George Mason University and the first Student Affairs Officer in Asian American Studies at UC Davis. She earned her Ph.D. in Race & Ethnic Studies in Education and Graduate Certificate in Asian American Studies at UCLA.

Guided by a commitment to being a public scholar and educator, Dr. OiYan Poon has developed extensive experiences in higher education policy analysis and advocacy. She was a key advocate for the establishment of the federal AANAPISI (Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution) Minority Serving Institution designation. As she was completing her Ph.D. at UCLA, she was also elected President of the University of California Student Association (UCSA), which represents the interests of all UC students in the statewide system’s governance process. 

Neil G. Ruiz is Pew Research Center’s Head of New Research Initiatives. In this role, he is responsible for inspiring and advancing new opportunities for organizational growth and evolution. He works closely with the Center’s president to conceptualize and drive new strategies that expand the Center’s scope and capacity to do new research and serve broader audiences. He identifies projects that amplify the Center’s mission and develops external collaborations.

Neil is also the principal investigator of the Center’s comprehensive study of Asian Americans, where he is also serving as an associate director of race and ethnicity research. He has a background in applying demographic, qualitative, and survey research methods in the U.S. and around the world. He utilizes this mixed methods approach to studying Asian Americans, other racial and ethnic groups, and immigrant populations. He is the founding chair of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Research and Affinity Group of the American Association for Public Opinion Researchers. He previously was an associate director for the global migration and demography research team.

Prior to joining the Center, Neil worked as a migration and economic development expert at the Brookings Institution, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. He was also the executive director of the Center for Law, Economics and Finance at George Washington University. He is a political economist with a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master’s degree from Oxford University, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Robert Teranishi is a Professor of Social Science and Comparative Education, the Morgan and Helen Chu Endowed Chair in Asian American Studies, and co-director for the Institute for Immigration, Globalization and Education at UCLA. His research is broadly focused on race, ethnicity, and the stratification of college opportunity. His work has been influential to federal, state, and institution policy related to college access and affordability. He has provided congressional testimony regarding the Higher Education Reauthorization Act and No Child Left Behind, informed state policy decisions related to selective college admissions, and his research has been solicited to inform U.S. Supreme Court decisions on affirmative action and school desegregation. Prior to his appointment at UCLA, he served as a professor at New York University and the University of Pennsylvania. Recently, President Obama appointed Dr. Teranishi as a member on the Board of Directors of the National Board for Education Services.

Natasha Warikoo is Stern Professor in the Social Sciences, Department of Sociology, at Tufts University. A former Guggenheim Fellow, Warikoo studies racial and ethnic inequality in education. Her award-winning book Race at the Top: Asian Americans and Whites in Pursuit of the American Dream in Suburban Schools (May 2022, University of Chicago Press), explores the growth of Asian Americans in suburban communities. In the book Is Affirmative Action Fair? The Myth of Equity in College Admissions (September 2022, Polity Press), Warikoo argues that we should rethink college admissions, and walks readers through empirical evidence suggesting the important value of affirmative action. She is also the author of the multiple award-winning book, The Diversity Bargain: And Other Dilemmas of Race, Admissions, and Meritocracy at Elite Universities. Warikoo is co-chair of Scholars Strategy Network Boston, which aims to connect scholars, policymakers, and community leaders to effect change. Warikoo earned her BSc/BA in mathematics and philosophy at Brown University, and her PhD in sociology at Harvard University. She is a former high school teacher. Follow her on Twitter @nkwarikoo.