Background

Texas A&M University is very proud of its rich history, tradition, and culture. A major source of this pride is the how student leaders are at the heart of this history, tradition, and culture. The moment they step foot on campus, students at Texas A&M are bombarded with leadership organizations, retreats, conferences, and seminars. At any other university, this attempt to immerse their students into leadership would result in total apathy, or at the other end of the spectrum, produce too many leaders, and would likely fail in either situation. However, at Texas A&M, students embrace these opportunities and make the most of them. As we move into the 21st century, we must challenge ourselves to foster leadership with respect to an increasingly diverse population. One key aspect of this increasingly diverse country is the Asian American Community, the fastest growing racial population in the country. Through IDEAAL we strive to improve Texas A&Ms ability to attract, retain, and produce leaders for the Asian American community.

For Texas A&M to continue to produce the best and brightest future leaders in the country, we must account for the booming Asian American population. This population has grown 48 % in the past decade, more than any other racial population (2000 Census). This has implications on higher education as 55% of Asian Americans reported having bachelors degree, also the largest of any population (2000 Census). In fact, the percentage of college students who identify as Asian American (6%) is actually larger than the percentage of Asian Americans in the total population (3%), with most of these students attending public research universities such as Texas A&M.

Unfortunately, institutions of higher education have been slow to respond to this growing trend. Less than 1% of all college administrators are Asian American. Furthermore, Asian Americans are less likely to utilize services such as counseling, mental health, etc (Uba, 1994).The opportunity for ethnic identity development is particularly important for the historically underserved and misunderstood Asian American community (Kawaguchi 2003). We must be intentional and precise in our efforts to serve this population as an essential part of remaining at the forefront of developing future leaders.

In order to address the unique issues of Asian American leadership at Texas A&M, we introduce IDEAAL, the Institute for the Development and Education of Asian American Leaders. Through IDEAAL, we seek to enhance the ability of Texas A&M to support Asian American students by creating a body of student leaders who are can effectively provide leadership to the Asian American community. Having a strong presence of Asian Americans can only enhance Texas A&Ms reputation for developing quality leaders and will help to maximize the experience of Asian Americans at Texas A&M so that we can continue to take the best and brightest to the next level.

References

• Kawaguchi, S. Ethnic Identity Development and Collegiate Experience of Asian Pacific American Students: Implications for Practice. NASPA Journal, Vol. 40, no. 3, Spring 2003
• Uba, L. Asian Americans: Personality Patterns, Identity, and Mental Health. New York: Guilford, 1994