Hmong Association reaches out to campus and
youth
By Angelite Caudillo
The Collegian
The Hmong Student Association
at Fresno State has been giving back to the community for 21 years by
promoting higher education, cultural values, and moral and ethical standards.
Senior graphic design major Der Yang is the president of the HmSA. Yang
has been in the association for five years. She said the group gives all
students the opportunity to learn about the Hmong community and its cultural
values, as well as making new friends.
“I joined to meet new people,” Yang said. The group had about
90 members in the 2004-2005 year and Yang said they are estimating to
get more than 100 members to interact with this year.
“I get to meet a lot of professionals,” Yang said. “The
association can help students to start networking so they can also meet
professionals that may be able to help them after finishing college.”
The student association plans to give back to the youth of their community
through their two major annual events. The events include a higher education
cultural conference and performing in a show for Amerasia Week. Yang said
the group has even helped new Hmong refugees in the community.
Having graduated from a local high school, Yang said one new goal for
the HmSA is to get high school students from all the local high schools
to come together and compete in leadership activities. Yang said they
hope to grab students’ attention by offering a prize.
The winning school will get $500 to $600 to use for their own school or
for an organization on their own campus. The plans for this project are
still in the works and Yang hopes the event will take place sometime this
year.
The HmSA started meeting this year on Sept. 2. They will continue to meet
every Friday at 4 p.m. in the USU Building room 317. Students are encouraged
to come and join to have fun meeting new people.
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