CURRENT POSITION Associate Dean, Research and Learning, Stony Brook University Libraries, NY DEGREE MLS, Queens College, City University of New York, 1999 FOLLOW linkedin.com/in/janet-clarke-88b47213; @socialjanet.bsky.social Photo by William Neumann Photography

Celebrating Culture

Until Janet Hyunju Clarke, Associate Dean of Research and Learning at Stony Brook University Libraries, got involved, the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students who make up approximately 40 percent of the school’s population had never had a campus club that was open to anyone (as opposed to only students) or celebration related to their heritage. “We wanted to do something at a campus-wide level to show students that their history and experiences matter,” says Clarke. 

Funds from the campus diversity office helped sponsor programs and a speaker—Vivian Louie, director of the Asian American Center at Hunter College—for an opening ceremony in 2024 for Asian American Heritage Month. A student performance showcase, featuring individual AAPI student performance clubs, included the K-Pop dancers KBS Dance Team; PUSO Cultural, a team that’s part of the school’s Philippine United Student Organization; and Music and Medicine, a group that brings music to hospitals, nursing homes, and other such facilities. 

In addition to celebrating AAPI culture, Clarke established a mentoring network for AAPI students. The need for support became particularly acute in 2020. “We are near New York City,” she says. “Many students are from there, and they were experiencing horrible times during the pandemic. Their parents lost businesses and experienced racism.... I said to colleagues that we have to do something to show them that there is institutional support in the face of all the hate and violence.” In 2020, 140 students applied to be mentees; this year, there were more than 400. Stony Brook can seem isolating to students of color, says Clarke. “We want to be visible as an organization that brings students together [where they] can be heard and be joyous.”