Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Heritage Month, APIDA, celebrates the collective accomplishments of the various communities in the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American population. Since 1977, APIDA Heritage Month has been celebrated nationally in May in commemoration of the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants in America on May 7, 1843, and the completion of the transcontinental railroad by many Chinese laborers on May 10, 1969.

Due to the NC State academic calendar, the Multicultural Student Association (MSA) chooses to celebrate APIDA Heritage month from March 15 to April 15. Many communities have the cultural aspect of coming together for a feast and being connected through food, so this year’s theme for APIDA month is “Join Us at the Table.”

Crystal Thao, the president of Asian Students in Alliance (ASIA) and a fourth-year studying business administration, describes the beginnings of APIDA Month at NC State.

“This year we will be celebrating APIDA Month starting on March 15 until April 15,” Thao said. “APIDA Heritage Month at NC State started not too long ago. In 2015, we actually only had a Heritage Week, not even a month, so we’ve come a long way.” 

In 1987, APIDA Heritage was celebrated nationally during the first week of May and has since expanded to a month-long celebration in 1992.

There are currently 14 student organizations under ASIA and these organizations will prepare different cultural and educational events. 

“Some of our events include Asian Night Market — our kickoff event — Viet Night, Hmong Embroidery Workshop, Holi, Hot Pot Night, Origami and Tea, and Asia Night,” Thao said. “Many of our organizations co-host events. These events are open to everyone and we encourage all to come learn about the various communities that make up the APIDA population.”

Fifteen student organizations will host 18 programs for this year’s celebration, according to Wenli Liu, a graduate student assistant at Multicultural Student Affairs.

There will also be programs like Hawaii Night, Oak City Revolution and a calligraphy workshop with the Confucius Institute at NC State. On March 22, the MSA will host Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, an American attorney, professor, politician and a Democratic member of the North Carolina Senate.

All events are open to everyone and the APIDA Heritage Month theme extends a welcome seat through food.

“While brainstorming, the APIDA Heritage Month committee decided we wanted to have a relatable and fun theme,” Thao said. “Similarly to eating together at a table with friends and family, we want to invite the NC State community to join us for food, fun, and discussions. We want others to join us in our celebration and to experience our cultures comfortably as friends, and literally, almost all of our events will have food.”

The theme was also inspired by Asian food culture, according to Liu.

“Food is an essential element in Asian culture,” Liu said. “Traditional delicacy is the thing on every important event. We hope students from different communities can join us to know about more our food and cultural background behind.”  

Students can get involved by coming out to meet the different student organizations, trying out new foods and gaining new cultural experiences according to Thao.

“I hope students who participate and organize all the programs during the month can have a deeper understanding of their cultural roots, inherit it for future generations and let more people understand Asia history,” Liu said.

APIDA Heritage Month gives students the opportunity to engage with people from different communities and encourages those in the APIDA community to celebrate their culture.  

“It’s a month-long worth of chances to go out and experience something new and fun, to broaden your horizons,” Thao said. “It’s important to those who identify as part of the APIDA community to be able to celebrate and embrace our culture for a good month and be able to share our joy with others.”