Keep in mind that this letter to the editor was constrained by a cap on the # of words, so we were not able to deconstruct all the myths in your guest editorial in Wednesday's paper, nor were we able to fully explain all of our points in the letter. Nonetheless, I still believe that our letter was succinct enough to refute your major points against A3C. And we do plan on submitting full editorials to explain our perspective comprehensively, so please be patient.

In response to your points:

1. "Consciousness-building" is not done in a vacuum within the A3 identity. Since you also asked for concrete examples of how A3C would serve the community in ways that other campus resources can't, I will also use my personal experience as a way to explain "consciousness-building."

As an Asian-American and second-generation immigrant, I never fully identified with the overgeneralized Asian identity because I was born in this country and never visited Asia. My parents are first generation immigrants, but allowed for a mixture of Asian and American culture to exist in our family life. My ethnic identity has always existed on the border between the American identity and the Asian identity, because I never full identified as either. The reason why we wrote that scholars are "struggling to articulate the A3 identity" is because this new Asian-American identity has only begun to be fully-recognized and studied within its own field. That is exactly why Cornell has an Asian-American Studies program, distinct from the CAPS major or any other Asian-related major. We are not arguing that the A3 identity is so hard to articulate because it's so broad, but because it is only in development and that it is possible to articulate our differences and common ground.

Even in the existing Cornell social communities, it seems like Asian-Americans and Asians are struggling identify with each other, which might be why some large student groups have split into two--one for Asian-Americans who identify with a certain country, and one for Asians who identify with that country. When A3c is in place, I hope that the Director would form a vision for how these separate communities can be bridged and provide the resources to enable their collaboration, while allowing them to operate autonomously. The shared space of the A3C would allow these pairs of groups to congregate, while allowing easy access to each other's group information and be able to consult the A3C director on how to bridge their communities. Currently, there is no such space for that. The Asian American Studies Resource Center is currently being used to accommodate most A3 student groups, even though the resource center focuses mainly on Asian-American academic study.

Another personal example is how all of my other identities (LGBTQ, woman, socio-economic class, citizenship) are linked to my Asian-American identity. Because I am a Queer Person of Color, I do not fully identify with general LGBTQ community, nor do I fully identify with the A3 community. However, I do realize that I have a place in both communities, although I identify myself as an LGBT person first and foremost. At Cornell, I focused most of my energy on the LGBT community because I feel more comfortable there, but this doesn't mean that I am not open to joining A3 student groups. The reason why I chose to join the LGBTQ community over the A3 community was partially because those resources were not readily available when I first came to Cornell. This is before students have held A3 student orientations (which has been only in the past two years), so there was no particular event that introduced me to the A3 community. In contrast, the LGBT Resource Center has consistently held a New Student LGBTQ Orientation during Orientation Week on North Campus. I went to that event and immediately felt comfortable in that community, so I never left it since. Now, there will be an annual A3 student orientation, but it is still organized and implemented by students. This should not be the case, and is a reason why A3C would be immensely helpful. The A3C and its director would be able to organize the event and use its funds to implement it. If I was able to attend both orientations as a freshman, perhaps my extracurricular activities would have been much more different, and I would feel like I am generally accepted in the A3 community (I do not feel that way to this day). A3C would also be able to provide information on Queer Asian resources, if Queer Asian students do not choose to go to the LGBT Resource Center, and my student support group (MOSAIC for Queer People of Color) would also be able to meet at A3C to form a closer tie to the A3 community. Currently, MOSAIC is fully recognized as mainly an LGBTQ student group and we spend a lot of effort making ties with communities of color.

In the two examples above, I have not cited racism as a reason why I want to connect with the A3 community or the primary way of connecting to the A3 identity. It is indeed one of the reasons why I feel connected to some A3 students and why I feel like we have a shared consciousness (or understanding or empathy or a myriad of other words that can be substituted for consciousness) but it is the not the main justification of why an A3 community should exist. There is culture, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, etc. that connects Asians. Using the LGBT example again, Queer Asian males connect in ways that are different from Queer black men. Why shouldn't we have a center that allows for Queer Asian males to congregate, if they so choose to? As the President of MOSAIC, I have been asked many times by Queer Asian males where they can meet other Queer Asian males. Other than MOSAIC, there is no other space on campus or in Ithaca for these men to meet each other easily. The A3C has the potential to provide this safe space.

2. There is nearly nothing to address here. You made your original intentions clear, although from my reading of your initial editorial, your arguments were reminiscent of those that speak of self-segregation and how A3C is only going to cater to mental health needs. In fact, you brought up three explicit points as to why A3C is unnecessary: a. A3 category too broad b. mental health needs should be left to CAPS to handle c. international language barrier can be overcome using other campus resouces. The latter two points are only a subset of what the A3C can do. However, proponents of A3C do not claim that they are the only useful resources for A3 students. The A3C Director is also not a psychologist nor a counselor, but she will be able to direct A3 students to CAPS. Some students do not choose to go to CAPS immediately, either because they are A3 or have some A3 specific needs or any other reason that they are uncomfortable with CAPS, but A3C can serve as a safe space for that student to find help.

3. I disagree that A3C will make A3 students look the same and that the A3C operates on "sweeping generalizations." In the examples that I cited above, A3C will serve as a place of resources and congregation for students that do identify as A3 in *some* way and feel that such a center will be beneficial towards their student experience. Walking into that center does that mean that we will be begin to conform to any A3 stereotypes, but instead means that we are able to find that a place that understands those myths, actively debunks them by providing resources, and allows any Cornell student to feel connected through any of the nuances in the A3 identity.

Last note, I only cited specific examples that involved A3 students, but this doesn't mean that A3C is restricted to that demographic. Any Cornell student can find A3C beneficial. I will explain that in due time.