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| 4/22/2009 | Email this article • Print this article | Growing Hmong Community at Augsburg College Educates Campus Community
By Amy Doeun
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| The officers of the Asian student club: Pa Nhia Vang, Diamee Xiong, Tom Thao, Mai Yer Vang and Pa Dao Yang. (Amy Doeun / HMONG TIMES) |
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The number of Hmong students at Augsburg College in Minneapolis is steadily growing. Pa Dao Yang, sophomore and treasurer of the Pan-Asian Student club, said that she thinks there are about 20 or more students of Hmong descent attending Augsburg. Penh Lo, Director of Pan-Asian student services said there are 217 students of Asian descent. Students of color make up at 21% of the student population. For Asian Heritage Month the students at Augsburg have set out to educate their community. Lo said, "This is the first year the students are doing major campus wide programs." Lo who has been with Augsburg for about a year, said, "I inherited a good group of students."
The students have arranged discussion panels, educational programs, and a comedy/variety show. Pa Dao Yang said, "Not a lot of students here know about the Hmong." On Monday April 6th Seexeng Lee helped to educate the campus community with his lecture entitled, "Exploring Hmong Identities through the Arts."
Yang shared that that Mr. Lee was her art teacher when she attended Patrick Henry High School, "I joined the Asian club and he was the advisor. He helped all types of students in the classroom. He didn't stand over us, he sat beside us. I didn't see many Asian faculty and to have Mr. Lee, a Hmong faculty [member], had a huge impact on me.
Seexeng Lee then shared a video that his wife Iriya Lee had produced using a quote about Seexeng from Kao Kalia Yang saying, "[His art] has a mythic hold on meaning, specifically what it means to be Hmong ... it is a testament to the passion and perseverance of a community that has come a long way to today."
Lee is an alum of Augsburg and while he has given similar lectures on Hmong Identity and Art as far away as University of Wisconsin, Madison; he said its great to be back home. "I'm very proud to be an Auggie, I think I will always be an Auggie, I think I will die an Auggie." Dr. Kerry Morgan, the gallery coordinator at Augsburg, attended the lecture. Currently Lee's work is featured in the art gallery at Augsburg.
Lee began his lecture by sharing a brief history of the Hmong people including new research about their point of origin. Lee then shared a little bit about his art, which Kao Kalia Yang called, "the new Paj Ntaub," and other current artists. He included how the identity of Hmong is interwoven into art saying, "My hope has been that through art pieces I will get the next and future Hmong generations to see the importance of preserving the Hmong identity ... especially our arts and our language ... the very things that we have practiced for centuries. At the same time I was hoping for others (Non-Hmong) as a direct result from having heard my story, seen my work to then look deeper into their own history, cultural roots to see if they themselves can find transcending elements about their cultural heritage worth preserving." The lecture was followed by a discussion of Hmong identity and the arts.
For more information on Seexeng Lee, go to: www.seexeng.com.
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St. Paul, MN
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