About

When I was a freshman at William & Mary, I was fascinated by the history of the college and the clubs I was a part of. I remember listening to the stories and experiences of the older students I looked up to, and I wished there was some way to keep these stories alive and share them with others. The title "Talk To Your Elders" was inspired by the idea of learning from those who came before you and fostering connections between generations of Asian American students at W&M. 

This website aims to share the information I gathered from my research in an accessible format. Additionally, this website highlights the stories and perspectives of those I interviewed separate from my academic interpretation and provides a space for me to include more stories and documents that were outside of the scope of my paper. Therefore, my research project is two-fold in that I aim to share the stories of Asian American student leaders at William & Mary through a public website and explore the political consequences of these organizations via an honors thesis paper. 

In conclusion, my research project highlights the stories and experiences of a few Asian American student leaders at William & Mary to help forge new collective memories and contribute to William & Mary’s local history. Each individual included in my research helped create diversity and further progress for the Asian American community at William & Mary, regardless of their original or stated intentions. This illustrates that progress and diversity at William & Mary were largely shaped by the students themselves. While student organizations may seem like trivial spaces, they have the capacity to create tangible change and valuable opportunities for their peers.

Isabella DiFulvio, 2023