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APIDA Heritage Month at Texas A&M University

APIDA (Asian Pacific Islander Desi American) Heritage Month is celebrated in April at Texas A&M University to allow students the opportunity to engage in festivities and educational programs before the end of the semester.

the words Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Heritage Month and the initials APIDA as a heading

APIDA (Asian Pacific Islander Desi American) Heritage Month is celebrated in April at Texas A&M University to allow students the opportunity to engage in festivities and educational programs before the end of the semester. The month is coordinated by the Asian Presidents’ Council (APC).

May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month – a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. A rather broad term, Asian/Pacific encompasses all of the Asian continent and the Pacific islands of Melanesia (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands), Micronesia (Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia) and Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Easter Island).

The month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants.

If you have any questions about your event or APIDA Heritage Month, please contact the Asian Presidents’ Council (APC) at apc.tamu@gmail.com.

Cover image Detail of “Chinatown, San Francisco, California. by Carol M. Highsmith, photographer, May 2013. (courtesy of the Library of Congress)