BY CAPPY KIDD
CHICAGO - Seventeen students at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, began a hunger strike April 12 to protest the school administration's stonewalling of student demands for an Asian-American studies program. The hunger strike was announced at a rally of 300 students held to protest the administration's latest refusal to consider proposals submitted by the Asian-American Advisory Board.

The campaign for an Asian-American studies program began more than three years ago and has received widespread support from the general student body and faculty. Some 1,200 students signed a petition in support of the program. The Black and Latino student organizations have also endorsed the demands, along with the Student Government Association, faculty members of the Afro-American Studies and Women's Studies departments, and the chair of the History department.

Administration response
Asian-American students make up 18 percent of the total student enrollment at Northwestern and will comprise 25 percent of the incoming freshman class. In addition to Asian- American studies, the protesters are demanding increased recruitment of Latinos and an end to harassment of Black students by campus police.

Despite the large number of Asian- Americans attending Northwestern, the administration has steadfastly refused to implement a permanent program that will present the history, cultural contributions, and issues of Asian-Americans. In response to student demands for a permanent program with qualified professors on a tenure track, the administration has countered with proposals for visiting lecturers and temporary programs.

Supporters of the hunger strikers set up an around-the- clock tent encampment and information center to help publicize their demands and to broaden the debate among the general student body. The discussions at the encampment continue all hours of the day and night.

By the 10th day of the hunger strike, the original 17 strikers were replaced by other students as the protesters adopted the tactic of a serial hunger strike with some students joining the action every few days. In addition to Asian-American students, the hunger strike has included two white students and one Black student.

Solidarity from other campuses
Messages of support have poured in from across the country by fax and E-mail. A banner at the information center lists some of the universities that have sent messages of solidarity or have in some cases organized actions in support of the demands at Northwestern. The banner includes DePaul University, University of Illinois in Chicago, Notre Dame, University of Chicago, Columbia University, Brown University, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, University of Maryland, Cornell, University of Wisconsin, and Stanford. Princeton students staged a sit-in for Latin and Asian-American studies that coincided with the action at Northwestern.

Noting that the Asian-American students have received support from white, Black, and Hispanic classmates and student organizations, Jennifer Taniguchi, one of the original hunger strikers, said, "The struggle is to make the administration responsive to the concerns of all students."

Students at the information table also pointed to the need to oppose racist and anti-immigrant initiatives, such as California's Proposition 187.

Every day, students of various nationalities come up to the tables at the encampment to offer their support, buy buttons, and make financial contributions. Some volunteer to help staff the tables. While this reporter was at the site, an Asian woman volunteered to join the hunger strike. She told Gene Kim, one of the organizers of the protest, "I don't have any experience with this and I really like food, but I want to make a contribution."

When asked where the campaign goes from here, Kim responded, "This struggle has unfolded over the last three years; it's not something that will fizzle out after this semester. We plan to keep up the pressure to publicly press the administration. We are prepared to go into the next year - whatever it takes."  
 
 
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