2024 Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Keynote: Dr. OiYan Poon. "The Asian American Affirmative Action Divide 
and the Future of Racial Justice"


Dr. OiYan Poon is a community-engaged research scholar, educator, storyteller, and leader for intersectional racial equity. Her research has focused on the racial politics of Asian Americans, education access, affirmative action, and admissions systems and practices. She is the author of Asian American Is Not a Color: Conversations on Race, Affirmative Action, and Family (2024, Beacon Press), which explores how Asian Americans are shaping the future of race relations through debates over education policies like affirmative action, using personal narrative and interviews of Asian Americans across the country. In Rethinking College Admissions: Research-Based Practice and Policy (2022, Harvard Education Press), she and her co-editor, Mike Bastedo, and colleagues examine and offer new ideas to transform the unequal structures and systemic norms of college-going in the U.S.

We will be having a short reception in STEW 162 from 4:30 PM.