Cultural club ‘families’ help students find a home on campus

Chapman students explore identity, heritage and community by getting involved with cultural clubs on campus. Left, Vietnamese Student Association, right, Nikkei Student Union. TIFFANY LE, Staff Photographer

When Kiana Kalahele, a current sophomore majoring in business administration marketing, joined the Chapman community in 2020, she had one goal in mind: to find people that she could call family. After all, every new student wants to feel a sense of belonging when entering college, but a freshman year of entirely remote learning made that goal rather complicated.

Staying in Oahu for that first year only added to the obstacles Kalahele faced. While the distance from campus meant that typical means of socializing with other students were not readily accessible, student organizations and Greek life provided some opportunities for Kalahele to connect with others, even while remote. 

But how does a student make those connections meaningful? That was the question on the table for Kalahele as a board member of First Generation Ambassadors (1G), which supports first-generation and underrepresented students at Chapman. 

“We (got) feedback (in fall 2020) on how we could improve the club,” Kalahele said. “(Members wanted a space) where you’re talking with each other rather than (board members) just talking at people.”

In the spring of 2021, 1G began dividing its members into sub-groups, called “families,” in alignment with Kalahele’s goal. Now, board members act as family leaders, and the size of each family provides a chance for students to connect on a more personal, individual level. Families also compete against each other in various games and activities, like Family Feud.

Simply using the term “family” had a noticeable impact on the comradery of 1G, according to Kalahele, who reasoned, “Who doesn’t want a family?”

Other cultural clubs on campus encompass a similar familial dynamic under different names unique to each group. Another example is “Zoku,” the Nikkei Student Union (NSU)’s nickname for “kazoku,” which means “family” in Japanese. As an organization focused on raising awareness of Japanese American culture, the name fits perfectly.

While Zokus essentially function the same as 1G’s families, the NSU asks its members to fill out a personality test to determine which Zoku they should be placed in. The practice is still fairly new, having only been a part of NSU for about two years. 

“Even if you get placed into (a Zoku) that you didn’t take a quiz for, everybody’s watching out for you,” NSU historian Emi Thomas said, who joined the club after members had already been sorted into Zokus.

Thomas also noted that Zokus have extra cultural weight in a club focused on celebrating the Japanese community. 

“The family aspect really helps because everybody’s away from their family and (the culture) that they might have left behind,” Thomas said.“You don’t have to be Japanese to be a part of NSU, but a lot of people relate to that experience of being Asian American, and (Zokus help) people come together and talk about shared (experiences).”

Both Thomas and Kalahele, who is also a board member for the NSU, stressed the importance of accessibility in their clubs’ respective family programs. Compared to sub-groups in organizations like Greek life, Kalahele described 1G families as generally more laid-back and genuine.

Despite using similar terminology, the Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) operates in contrast to many Greek life practices, such as recruitment.

“Rushing (for Greek life) is a different environment,” VSA social media coordinator Catherine Nguyen said. “For a cultural club, there’s not really a certain standard you have to meet.”

VSA president Kelly Pham explained that many “big” and “little” pairings in their “ACE” program — short for “Anh Chị Em” or “big brother/sister, little brother/sister” — connect a member who is of Vietnamese descent with a member who isn’t. This allows a chance for students to share and learn about Vietnamese culture in a one-on-one setting. 

The pairings, which are determined through a preference form, can also lead to long-lasting relationships. 

“I know a lot of bigs and littles who don’t just have (a big-little) relationship,” Pham said. “My little is my closest friend now.”

For Kapamilya president Kyle Tanimura, those kinds of relationships helped him come to terms with his identity. He added that Kapamilya functions as a safe space on campus for students to examine and contemplate Filipino culture. Beyond encouraging relationships and a sense of community, Tanimura also believes that tackling the concepts of identity and heritage is a duty that’s both vital and unique to cultural clubs and their family programs. 

Similar to the VSA’s ACE program, Kapamilya’s “AKA” program — which stands for “Ate, Kuya, Ading” and means “older sister/brother, younger sibling'' — paired Tanimura with a “big” who encouraged him to embrace his Filipino heritage.

“Being half-Filipino has been (hard) because (there’s) this aspect of ‘am I Filipino enough?’” Tanimura said. “I knew I was Filipino, but I didn’t feel like I could identify with other Filipinos. (My big and I) really connected on the fact that we have so much love and appreciation for our culture … it’s made me more comfortable and more proud of being Filipino.”

Tanimura’s story is one of many that attest to the importance of cultural clubs and their familial aspects from those who found friends during remote learning, to those who reconnected with a part of their heritage. 

“That’s something I hope people in the club are able to create: a safe space for (others) to be comfortable, to be who they are, to stress out, to cry, to laugh and to be able to live life with support,” Tanimura said.