#STOPASIANHATE

A message from our college president, Ivan L. Harrell, II, Ph.D.

Dear Campus Community,

The shootings in Atlanta that killed eight people, of which six were Asian women, has once again raised alarms about the increased number of targeted attacks against Asians. Although the incident is still in its early stages of investigation, the fact that six of the eight people were Asian can’t be ignored.

Since the pandemic started, Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition that tracks incidents of violence and harassment against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S., reported nearly 3,800 instances of discrimination (pdf) against Asians in the past year. The actual number is believed to be much higher. These incidents have targeted our most vulnerable community members, including the elderly and women.

I’ve written statements over the past year that condemn these incidents, and the TCC Board of Trustees (pdf), Gov. Jay Inslee and WACTC (pdf) all have written similar statements that support our Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. We must not only say these words, but act these words.

Our commitment and participation in normalizing anti-racism requires everyone’s participation every day, not just after horrible massacres that grab national media attention. I urge all of you to act on these values on and off campus. Our Significant Other affinity group leads and the Asian Pacific Islander Committee are considering how to take action as well, and when ready, they ask you to join their efforts.

We wish to assure our Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander members in our TCC family that you are not alone. You have an entire community standing with you. We will be strong for you when you feel sad, alone or frightened. We will speak up with you and not be silent. We are your family, and together we will defeat this.

Thank you,

Ivan

A message from the Asian and Pacific Islander Committee

Watch our video message from our staff and faculty who pledge their support to our API community members. 

We Support You

Resources

• For immediate support, please contact the Tacoma Police or your local law enforcement agency if the incident involves a criminal act such as physical assault or vandalism.
• The College will also hold students and employees accountable, including disciplinary action, for any anti-Asian intimidation or violence.  Everyone is expected to adhere to the Code of Student Conduct and Nondiscrimination and Harassment Policy and Grievance Procedure.
• Please contact the following organizations to report an incident and access other resources in English and multiple Asian languages:
  • Asian Americans Advancing Justice
  • Asian and Pacific Policy and Planning Council
  • Chinese Affirmative Action Campaign - #STOPAAPIHATE
• TCC has an active and engaged Asian & Pacific Islander Committee (API) and Affinity Group (the Significant Other). Please contact a representative of TCC’s API Committee and Affinity Group for on-campus support as well as for referrals to supportive services:
  • Wendy Larsen wlarsen@tacomacc.edu
  • Mary Chen-Johnson mchenjohnson@tacomacc.edu
  • Sopang Men smen@tacomacc.edu
  • Edwin Lim elim@tacomacc.edu
• Please contact TCC’s Bias Incident Response Team (BIRT) for confidential support and referrals to other supportive services.
• The TCC Library has collected research about anti-Asian/Asian American history. Please visit this webpage for information: https://tacomacc.libguides.com/AAPI