The objective of the Summit’s Brainstorm session is to produce projects for UVSA’s upcoming year (November 2008 to November 2009), known as the Roadmap. Approximately 60 people participated in this session. In the first part, lists of ideas were generated. Participants were then split into 3 rooms to discuss ideas within their theme and produce proposals. On Sunday morning the proposals were introduced to the crowd and people signed up for each proposal they thought was worthy of their attention.

Themes

• Culture – An event that celebrates your heritage and identity.
• Community Building – Building relationships across individuals and groups.
• Community Service – Giving back to the community and helping it grow.
• Leadership – Helping individuals to feel comfortable in stepping up.

Idea List

Culture

• Tet Trung Thu
• Black April
• VCN
• Tết Festival
  
• Traditional Dance
• Lion Dance
• Parade

Community

• Tết Parade
  
• Officer Mixer
• Charity Fundraisers
• Community Picnic
• Camping Trip
• Resource Fair
• Olympics
• Charity Project
• Formal Dance
• Snow Trip
• College Fair / High School Conference
• Language School
• Voter Registration
• Translation Service
• Health Fair
• Bike-A-Thon

Leadership

• Summit
• College Fair / High School Conference
• Camping Trip
• Training Camp
• Discussion Forums
• Encouragement
• Appointment
• Committees for Events
• Periodic Workshops
• Retreat
• uNAVSA Conference

Proposals

Culture

Black April Commemoration

Black April is the anniversary of the Fall of Saigon on April 30th, 1975.

We propose a memorial event, similar to SoCal’s candlelight vigil to educate and to share our experience with folks of all backgrounds and ethnicities.

Although this is a commemoration of the end of the war, it’s also a celebration of the creation of the overseas Vietnamese communities. We are not JUST a war; we are a people with a rich culture and history and want to share that.

The event would possible take place in more than one place to allow more people to come and have it closer to home (Sacramento, Oakland, San Jose?, the world?!). At the event we would have photography exhibits, skits, testimonies from veterans, displays to let people know about the war from our perspective, and even give awards to community who helped refugees. We could also try to do a screening of Journey from the Fall the week before. The event would culminate into a candlelight vigil in solidarity with other locations at the same time to remember Black April: the lives lost and the beginning of new communities of our people around the world.

This event is often overlooked, and especially among youths, is barely known.

Tết Trung Thu (aka Children’s Moon Festival)

We propose that UVSA have a bigger role in the organizing of the Children’s Moon Festival. The event currently is for children and grandparents, but we wish to attract youths and students to the event as well. We can offer free stuff as incentives to come out, hold lantern-making contests (think life-size lanterns), do performances or integrate a show, and encourage families to come out or coordinate language schools to have a field trip to the event.

Community

In order to build and servce the community, there are several areas to focus on. First is the importance of building community between VSAs, especially through bonding activities, introductions, and ice breakers. We believe that success should not be solely measured by attendance, but by other means. We believe in collective efforts for charity. And above all, a “Just do it!” attitude!

Good practices include utilizing technology to make UVSA transparent, and focus the early part of the year on bonding.

Charity Fundraisers

We propose small fundraisers to help charities (e.g. Parents For Parents).

Tết Parade

We propose to participate in the organization of the Vietnamese Spring Festival & Parade in San Jose.

Officer Mixers

We propose having a mixer among officers, similar to the ICC Gala that UVSA Southern California organizes.

High School Conference

We propose a high school conference in the long-term.

Leadership

The following ideas were discussed and ranked:

• College Fair / High School Conference (8)
• Summit (6)
• Camping Trip (6)
• ICC Retreat (4)
• Olympics (4)

College Fair / High School Conference

We propose having a College Fair / High School Conference where high school students can tour a college campus as part of an experience.

They can shadow college students as they explore the campus, meet up with existing VSA cabinet members as part of a Big Sister / Big Brother program, or connecting through various majors, hear guest speakers on leadership, network with other local high school students, or have fun with activities such as Scavenger Hunts and other team-building activities.

Summit

We propose holding another Summit with the following features:

• More workshops
• Better management and meaningful use of time (e.g. lunch was a little too long this year, which should have been a game or activity)
• Have breakfast on-site
• Keep the fishbowls (good!!!)
• Keep the icebreakers (good, especially the name game)
• See updates from ICC on themes and planning (of?)
• A better sign system (currently people on the corner)

Camping Trip

We propose continuing the camping trip, but more focused on these features to encourage leadership development:

• Forging strong relationships and bonding
• Having open discussions on various topics
• Encourage active participation and taking on various roles throughout the weekend

Proposal Rankings

Event	Cal	CSUEB	DAC	SFSU	SJSU	UC Davis	UOP	U.G.	U.I.	UVSA	Total
Tết Trung Thu	6	3	1		4	2	4		5	1	26
Camping Trip	6	3			1	4	4	1	2		21
Black April	5				2	3	3	1	1		15
Summit	6	1				3	1	1	1		13
College Fair / High School Conference	5	1	1		1	3			1		12
Tết Parade	4								2	1	7
Charity Fundraisers		1			2					1	4
Officer Mixers	1	1								1	3

U.G. = Unaffiliated Group; U.I. = Unaffiliated Individual

Of the 42 ballots collected:

1. Tết Trung Thu garnered 26 supporters from 6 VSAs and 6 individuals.
2. Camping Trip garnered 21 supporters from 5 VSAs (plus 1 unaffiliated VSA) and 2 individuals.
3. Black April garnered 15 supporters from 4 VSAs (plus 1 unaffiliated VSA) and 1 individual.
4. Summit garnered supporters from 4 VSAs (plus 1 unaffiliated VSA) and 1 individual.
5. College Fair / High School Conference garnered supporters from 4 VSAs (plus 1 unaffiliated VSA) and 1 individual.
6. Tết Parade garnered supporters from 1 VSA and 3 individuals.
7. Charity Fundraisers garnered supporters from 2 VSAs and 1 individual.
8. Officer Mixers garnered supporters from 2 VSAs and 1 individual.

Appendix: Year-in-Review

Activities

Vietnamese Spring Festival & Parade

UVSA had a unified parade formation with students from all affiliated VSAs. The theme was the nostalgic high school Vietnamese youth look in which girls donned áo trắng and guys wore a white dress shirt and black slacks.

Olympics

About 120 youths from all affiliated VSAs attended the first annual Olympics, held at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The program of the day included a roll call session, and games such as volleyball, flag football, field games, and a watermelon eating contest. Althought he weather forecast called for a stormy day, UVSA was lucky to have fairly good weather throughout most of the day.

NorCal is Hella Camping & Iron Chef

UVSA goes to Sequoia National Park during the summer and brings out 60 wilderness youths for campfire skits, a group hiking race, wading in the waterfall, an Iron Chef dessert competition, and all-around getting to know one another.

April 30 Observance

UVSA took the lead for an April 30 observance this year by having students pin a black ribbon and observing a day of silence to be reminded of the experiences many of our parents endured in coming to America after the end of the Vietnam War.

uNAVSA Collective Philanthropy Project: Vietnamese Overseas Initiative for Conscience Empowerment (VOICE)

In order to help build a human trafficking resource center in Cambodia, VSAs across the region, as part of a nationwide effort, raise funds for the cause. UVSA held a Frozen Yogurt Fundraiser at Frozo’s in Santa Clara.

uNAVSA Conference

We packed a bus for a trip to Portland, Oregon for the fifth uNAVSA Conference, and represented our region’s pride with stickers reading “NorCal UVSA Got Yo Back” to be affixed on the back of the attendees, and contributing performances to the culture show and taking the lead in many parts of the conference’s operations. Here we selected two delegates to be the Northern California Representatives on the uNAVSA Council (CoRR), and voted for a new Collective Philanthropy Project beneficiary: VietHOPE.

Children’s Moon Festival

Volunteers packed the booths of this event led by the Viet American Business Group (VABG) along with the Vietnamese American Community of Northern California (VAC/NORCAL) organization. UVSA helped with the running of the games and worked with the kids to make paper lanterns.

Snow Trip

A UVSA snow trip never materialized because of existing snow trips already scheduled. In the end, VSAs were asked to attend the snow trips of SJSU VSA or UC Davis VSA.

Winter Formal

A UVSA Winter Formal did not materialize, since SJSU VSA already organized its own Winter Formal, and it made more sense to help bring out attendance to this event than to hold yet another dance. The same issue came up for CSUEB VSA for their Valentine Dance as well, and the VSAs were encouraged to attend that event.

Concerns

Flag of the Vietnamese American Community

Officially known as the Vietnamese Freedom & Heritage Flag in many cities across the nation, UVSA has adopted the usage of the gold flag with three red stripes at UVSA events on a case-by-case basis, including unofficially at the January 2008 Youth Forum, for the purposes of the Paracel & Spratly Islands issue (ICC, February 2008), and for the 2008 UVSA Summit (ICC, September 2008). The flag is a sensitive political topic that affects UVSA’s relationship with its youth constituents and the Vietnamese American community at large. Currently there is no resolution that states specifically the reasons for its adoption.

Vietnamese Naming of a San José Business District

A proposition to give Story Road Business District a Vietnamese designation divided the Vietnamese American community, but have largely left the voices of the youth out of the picture. UVSA organized the first Youth Forum to create a space for youths to share their opinions, regardless of their stance on the name or the efforts to recall San José City Councilmember Madison Nguyen. A report was released that detailed the points of discussion, including which name to use and related community issues such as the perceived generation gap. With no consensus on the matter, UVSA has taken a neutral stance on this issue, but developed a policy “That UVSA will remain neutral in all political matters. Should UVSA decide to take a stance, that decision must pass with eighty percent (80%) approval of the Intercollegiate Council.” (ICC, March 2008)

Vietnamese Deportation

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), part of the Department of Homeland Security, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the government of Vietnam to allow the deportation of U.S. non-citizens who have been charged with certain types of crimes. Although UVSA has no official stance on the issue, in February 2008, UVSA announced its support of the efforts by Congressional members to postpone the implementation date in order to analyze the impact this MOU will have on the Vietnamese American community. The postponement did not occur, and the MOU is now in effect. Currently there is no report as to what immediate impact this has had on the community, although ICE estimates that 1,500 individuals are affected.

Conflict Over the Paracel & Spratly Islands

A recent decision by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to extend its administrative zone far south of its borders to the Paracel and Spratly Islands have led to demonstrations and actions from Vietnamese communities both within Vietnam and around the world. While Vietnam and China are only two of the six nations claiming ownership of the islands, the Chinese government has positioned troops and ships in the area. According to VietWill, a group of youth activists who are dedicated to this issue, the Chinese military action has already led to the deaths of some Vietnamese fishermen who were working in the islands. UVSA took the stand of siding with the Vietnamese Diaspora communities and supporting efforts to protect Vietnamese sovereignty over the islands (ICC, February 2008) against Chinese military aggression. UVSA supported a forum hosted by Cal VSA (UC Berkeley) to discuss this issue.

Internal Development

Constitutional Ratification

The UVSA Constitution has gone through numerous revisions since its inception in 2003. However, it was not until the 2007 Summit that revisions would be made by a delegation from each school. Nearly a year later, after numerous amendments were made to fill in the many oversights and inconsistencies, the ratification of the Constitution is now complete, which required a three-fourths (75%) super-majority of each affiliated VSA. The remaining signatures were collected on September 28, 2008, marking the official birthday of UVSA.

First Annual Elections

The first elections were held in June 2008. Although the Constitution is ratified after the elections, it was necessary to begin transitioning to a new generation of leaders to take stewardship of the organization. Because of the way UVSA structures its terms, the two-year terms of half of the Executive Board will be staggered from the rest, which means elections will be held annually. The next elections will be truly official, with the positions of External Vice President, Treasurer, and uNAVSA Co-Representative (2) being open.

San Francisco State University VSA Revival

After a few years of inactivity, students at SFSU have asked for assistance from UVSA to help oversee its reconstruction. The challenge of starting anew and sustaining the group gave UVSA a hint for the need of a leadership development program. The UVSA Olympics were held in San Francisco, and therefore required SFSU VSA’s collaboration, giving them a taste at organizing large-scale events without the taxing requirements of needing an entire team of experienced project managers, as they are a relatively new group. We have recommended that they continue to piggyback on organizing large events while managing their own smaller events as they continue to grow.