Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Students Association
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![]() ITASA Logo | |
Formation | February 17, 1998 |
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Type | NGO |
Legal status | 501(c)(3) religious/cultural |
Purpose | Community activism |
Headquarters | Evanston, Illinois |
Location | |
Region served | East, West, Midwest |
Membership | 1000+ |
Official language | English |
Main organ | National Board, Board of Directors |
Affiliations | Taiwanese American Student Associations, Official Partner of Taiwanese American Citizens League |
Staff | 40+ |
Website | ITASA.org |
The Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Students Association (ITASA) (Chinese (Traditional): 美國台裔學生協會) was established by a group of students in the East Coast and Midwest of the United States to grow the Taiwanese American college community. ITASA is a national 501(c)(3) non-profit organization staffed by students and recent graduates to serve their peers and their respective campuses. ITASA provides the spaces for networking, community building, leadership training, and identity-building which are critical to the future of the Taiwanese American generation.
History
[edit]On July 4, 1990, a group of second generation Taiwanese Americans converged on the campuses of Cornell University as a part of the Taiwanese American Conference/East Coast (TAC/EC) at Donlon Lounge to commence discussions regarding an intercollegiate Taiwanese Council. "We nicknamed ourselves ‘seeds,’ a term used as the agents to organically grow the Taiwanese community including a Taiwanese American Collegiate Network,” recalls Winston Yang, the organizer for the 1991 meeting of the ITASA “seeds.” During the 1991 meeting, about twenty representatives from schools like Harvard, Columbia, Yale, University of Pennsylvania, Smith, Rutgers, and NYU converged on the campuses of Columbia University for three days.
The first ITASA East Coast Conference took place at the University of Pennsylvania in 1992 (ITSA), followed by Yale University in 1993. The first Midwest ITASA conference took place the same year at Purdue University. From then on, ITASA held two conferences annually on the East Coast and the Midwest, until 1999, when the first annual West Coast Conference was held at the University of California, Berkeley, thus completing the three-region conference series which continues today.
In the beginning, ITASA conferences were self-financed and catered by students' own families. Attendance ranged from 35 to 300 people.
On February 17, 1998, ITASA was formally incorporated as a 501(c)(3) religious/cultural tax-exempt nonprofit corporation in Delaware by Incorporator Kok-ui Lim with the help of many other people, including Jimmy Ho, Audrey Jean, Cathy Hsu, Tim Chng, Rolla Chng, et al.
The founders of ITASA presided for several years and had tried several ways to generate successors. They created a steering committee of positions including the quaintly termed "Computer Operator" and recruited interested students from schools all over the nation to help run the organization. Many members of the steering committee have noted that they lacked the experience and motivation to run a geographically dispersed student organization. Staff experience increased with the command of Jimmy, Audrey, Cathy, and others. This new generation of ITASA leaders, all recent conference directors on the East Coast, helped to secure ITASA's financial and organizational future by facilitating the incorporation of ITASA into a 501(c)(3) corporation and investing ITASA's involvement on the regional level. They also developed ITASA's nascent web presence, centralized fundraising strategies, and brought greater structure to the national calendar of events and board responsibilities. From then on, the Board of Directors emerged from a group of veteran officers and new officers emerged from the conference leaders. Today, the ITASA National Board is selected every June from a pool of applicants from across the United States.
In 1998, Taiwanese American students at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Tufts University established the Boston Intercollegiate Taiwanese Students Association (BITSA) to serve the many campuses in the Boston area. BITSA works closely with ITASA at targeting its thriving community of local students.
In 1999, the first Annual Leadership Retreat was held at the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1999, ITASA "Regional Representatives" were added to the leadership structure. In 2003, Regional Representatives would become Regional Governors with more defined responsibilities.
In the spring of 1999, students at the University of California at Berkeley undertook the first West Coast Conference, bringing ITASA to three major regions across the United States.
In 2000, the Leadership Retreat Program was expanded to include the Midwest and West Coast Leadership Retreats. The first Midwest Leadership Retreat was held at Northwestern University with the West Coast Leadership Retreat hosted by Pomona College.
In 2001, ITASA's leadership structure was changed to its current form of a National Board overseen by a Board of Directors.
In 2003, Governor-led Regional Boards were established, replacing the single Regional Representative in each region and District Chairs took charge over the Districts, which were subdivided from the Regions.
In 2006, the first annual ITASA Winter Mixer in New York, NY was held.
In 2010, the Philanthropy Department was created. The Philanthropy Department plans and implements projects designed to further ITASA's mission statement.
In 2018, the Programs and Philanthropy departments were merged, as were the Marketing and Public Relations department.
In 2020, the External Affairs Department was created. The External Affairs Department aims to advocate for Taiwanese/ Taiwanese American rights representing the voice of college students across the US. Marketing and Public Relations Departments were once again separated into two departments. Marketing focuses on social media online presence and Public Relations focuses on outreach. The National Board introduced the co-national director system for most of the departments.
Approach
[edit]While setting goals, the National Board has identified 5 levels of student activism. The community at large needed more resources to educate, unite, and equip the general body of Taiwanese Americans across the United States. The campuses at each school needed support in getting linked to the nationwide network and founding new chapters of Taiwanese American student groups. The individual students required more information, ideas, contacts, outlets, and guidelines for personal and collective activism.
Programs
[edit]ITASA Grants
[edit]ITASA Grants was started during the 2018–2019 Academic Year following various inquiries about whether ITASA can help fund chapter events. The program comes as a combination of the previous Regional Grants Initiative and the ITASA Awards program. For the Spring 2019 Academic Term, ITASA helped to fund 3 different events at the University of Chicago, University of Texas at Austin, and Binghamton University for a grand total of $1,000.
Conference timeline
[edit]Date | Venue | Conference | Theme | Conference Director(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Spring, 1992 | University of Pennsylvania | ITSA | Pointing a new direction for the future | |
Spring, 1992 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | TAScon | Taiwanese American Students Conference - Proud to be Taiwanese American | |
Fall, 1992 | Brown University | ITASA Cultural Conference | ||
Fall, 1992 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | ITASA/TASC Cultural Conference | ||
Spring, 1993 | Yale University | ITASA East Coast Conference | ||
Spring, 1993 | Purdue University | ITASA Midwest Conference | Where are we now? Where are we from? Where are we going? | |
Spring, 1993 | University of Western Ontario | ITASA/CAN | A bridget to the future | |
Fall, 1993 | University of Michigan at Ann Arbor | ITASA Midwest Conference | Shaping the Future: A Challenge for Taiwanese Americans | |
Spring, 1994 | Princeton University | ITASA East Coast Conference | ||
Spring, 1994 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | ITASA Midwest Conference | ||
Spring, 1995 | Harvard University | ITASA East Coast Conference | ||
Fall, 1995 | University of Michigan at Ann Arbor | ITASA Midwest Conference | ||
February 2 – February 4, 1996 | Brown University | ITASA East Coast Conference | ||
October 18 – October 19, 1996 | Northwestern University | ITASA Midwest Conference | Voice and Vision – Talking About Today, Looking Towards Tomorrow | |
Spring, 1997 | Cornell University | ITASA East Coast Conference | ||
Spring, 1998 | Princeton University | ITASA East Coast Conference | Taiwanese Eyes, American Visions | |
April 10 – April 12, 1998 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | ITASA Midwest Conference | Express Yourself | |
November 13 – November 14, 1998 | Harvard University | BITSA Conference | Fortune's Way: Exploring the Taiwanese-American's Path to Success | |
February 4 – February 7, 1999 | Yale University | ITASA East Coast Conference | Made In Taiwan | |
April 9 – April 11, 1999 | University of Michigan at Ann Arbor | ITASA Midwest Conference | Links to the Past, Keys to the Future | |
April 10 – April 11, 1999 | University of California at Berkeley | ITASA West Coast Conference | A Journey Through Our Taiwanese-American Experience | |
November 16, 1999 | Harvard University | BITSA Conference | Old-School-New School: Bridging the Taiwanese-American Past and Future | |
February 18 – February 20, 2000 | Brown University | ITASA East Coast Conference | Breaking Boundaries, Building Bridges | |
March 31 – April 2, 2000 | Northwestern University | ITASA Midwest Conference | The Next Generation | |
April 7 – April 9, 2000 | Stanford University | ITASA West Coast Conference | ||
November 11, 2000 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | BITSA Conference | Inspiration and Expression: The Taiwanese-American in the New Millennium | |
March 1 – March 3, 2001 | University of Pennsylvania | ITASA East Coast Conference | ITASA: One Revolution | |
March 15 – March 18, 2001 | University of Michigan at Ann Arbor | ITASA Midwest Conference | Obey Your Core: Yam I Am | |
Spring, 2001 | University of California at Los Angeles | ITASA West Coast Conference | Cause An Effect: Empowering a New Generation | |
October 27, 2001 | Wellesley College | BITSA Conference | Movement: Raising a New Voice | |
February 14 – February 17, 2002 | Harvard University | ITASA East Coast Conference | Transition and Translation: Looking Within to Reach Beyond | |
April 5 – April 7, 2002 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | ITASA Midwest Conference | Flash Forward: Taiwan Beyond the Boundaries | |
April 5 – April 7, 2002 | University of Southern California | ITASA West Coast Conference | Entering New Dimensions | |
November 16, 2002 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | BITSA Conference | Impressions | |
February 27 – March 2, 2003 | Columbia University | ITASA East Coast Conference | Biting Into the Yam | |
April 4 – April 6, 2003 | University of Washington at Seattle | ITASA West Coast Conference | Building Parallel Generations | |
November 15, 2003 | Tufts University | BITSA Conference | Made In Taiwan: Defining a Culture | |
February 5 – February 8, 2004 | Yale University | ITASA East Coast Conference | Choose Your Flavor | |
March 5 – March 7, 2004 | University of Michigan at Ann Arbor | ITASA Midwest Conference | Reunion | |
April 2 – April 4, 2004 | Stanford University | ITASA West Coast Conference | Seeking the New Taiwan Spirit | |
February 24 – February 26, 2005 | Rutgers University at New Brunswick | ITASA East Coast Conference | Perpetual Motion | |
April 7 – April 9, 2005 | University of Southern California | ITASA West Coast Conference | One Step Ahead | |
2005 | Northwestern University | ITASA Midwest Conference | Beyond the Spectrum | |
February 9 – February 11, 2006 | New York University | ITASA East Coast Conference | Unity | |
March 31 – April 2, 2006 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | ITASA Midwest Conference | Remix | |
April 6 – April 8, 2006 | University of California at Los Angeles | ITASA West Coast Conference | Discovering the Taiwanese American Consciousness | |
February 2 – February 4, 2007 | Harvard University | ITASA East Coast Conference | The World Is Not Enough | |
March 30 – April 2, 2007 | University of Michigan at Ann Arbor | ITASA Midwest Conference | Team Taiwan | |
April 12 – April 15, 2007 | Stanford University | ITASA West Coast Conference | Rekindling the Flame | |
February 21 – February 23, 2008 | University of Pennsylvania | ITASA East Coast Conference | Kaleidoscope | |
April 4 – April 6, 2008 | Northwestern University | ITASA Midwest Conference | Hand in Hand | |
February 19 – February 22, 2009 | Duke University | ITASA East Coast Conference | Bringing it Back Home | |
April 2 – April 4, 2009 | University of Southern California | ITASA West Coast Conference | Creative Identity of Ambiguity | |
April 17 – April 19, 2009 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | ITASA Midwest Conference | Illuminate | |
February 18 – February 20, 2010 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | ITASA East Coast Conference | Live in HD | |
March 26 – March 28, 2010 | University of Texas at Austin | ITASA Midwest Conference | Round Up | |
April 1 – April 4, 2010 | University of California at San Diego | ITASA West Coast Conference | Sailing Beyond The Horizon | |
January 27 – January 30, 2011 | Princeton University | ITASA East Coast Conference | Taking it to the Top | |
April 7 – April 9, 2011 | University of California at Berkeley | ITASA West Coast Conference | Next Stop: Taiwan | |
April 15 – April 17, 2011 | Northwestern University | ITASA Midwest Conference | Taiwan Unwrapped | |
February 16 – February 19, 2012 | Georgia Institute of Technology | ITASA East Coast Conference | The Tipping Point | |
April 6 – April 8, 2012 | University of Michigan at Ann Arbor | ITASA Midwest Conference | Renewal | |
February 14 – February 17, 2013 | New York University & Columbia University | ITASA East Coast Conference | Igniting Infinite Possibilities Archived 2014-02-03 at the Wayback Machine | |
April 4 – April 7, 2013 | University of California, Los Angeles | ITASA West Coast Conference | Crescendo: Voices of Taiwanese America | |
April 12 – April 13, 2013 | The Ohio State University | ITASA Midwest Conference | Taiwan Taking Root | |
February 13 – February 16, 2014 | Yale University | ITASA East Coast Conference | Work In Progress[permanent dead link] | |
April 3 – April 6, 2014 | University of California at Berkeley | ITASA West Coast Conference | Pause. Rewind. Play. | |
April 10 – April 13, 2014 | University of Texas at Austin | ITASA Midwest Conference | Leveling Up | |
February 12 – February 15, 2015 | University of Pennsylvania | ITASA East Coast Conference | Interface Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine | |
March 5 – March 8, 2015 | University of Southern California | ITASA West Coast Conference | To Infinity and Beyond | |
April 3 – April 5, 2015 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | ITASA Midwest Conference | Plot Twist | |
February 11 – February 14, 2016 | University of Maryland | ITASA East Coast Conference | Routes (Roots) of Action | |
March 31 – April 3, 2016 | Stanford University | ITASA West Coast Conference | Treasure Island | |
April 8 – April 10, 2016 | Northwestern University | ITASA Midwest Conference | Underwater Archived 2016-03-17 at the Wayback Machine | Harry Tong |
February 16 - February 18, 2017 | New York University | ITASA East Coast Conference | Intertrak | Catherine Chang |
March 31 - April 2, 2017 | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor x University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | ITASA Midwest Conference | Lí chiah pá bô? | Grace Wu, Jason Yeh |
April 6 - April 9, 2017 | University of California, Davis | ITASA West Coast Conference | Lights! Camera! ACTION! | Jennie Chang |
February 8 - February 10, 2018 | Rutgers University | ITASA East Coast Conference | Glowing Up | Steven Cheng |
March 30 - April 1, 2018 | Case Western Reserve University x The Ohio State University | ITASA Midwest Conference | In Visibility | Alicia Chang, Sharon Yeh |
February 14 – February 17, 2019 | University of Pennsylvania | ITASA National Conference | Me and Ama | Amy Chen, Peter Sheu |
February 6 – February 9, 2020 | University of Maryland, College Park | ITASA East Coast Conference | Recognize to Reconnect Archived 2020-03-02 at the Wayback Machine | Yvonne Chen |
February 5 - February 7, 2021 | Johns Hopkins University | ITASA East Coast Conference | Sketching Your Own Path[permanent dead link] | Sabrina Wang |
April 9 - April 11, 2021 | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor | ITASA Midwest Conference | Branch & Bound Archived 2020-07-04 at the Wayback Machine | Brian Lin, Serena Yee |
TBA | Rutgers University | ITASA East Coast Conference | TBA Archived 2020-07-04 at the Wayback Machine | Ashley Chen, Thomas Eldralin |
TBA | The Ohio State University | ITASA Midwest Conference | TBA Archived 2020-07-04 at the Wayback Machine | Kristen Wang, Yushin Jeng |