On July 1, 吃瓜头条 History Professor Adam Fong will begin a yearlong sabbatical during which he will take the deepest dive he can into his family history.
He鈥檚 been eager for this project because the Fong family lore, since they immigrated from China, echoes Asian American and U.S. History in the 20th and 21st centuries. Unexplored, it鈥檚 catnip for a historian.
鈥淚鈥檝e loved history since I was a high school sophomore studying Western Civilization and the Tudors of England,鈥� Fong said. 鈥淚 realized that if you understood the story of one family, you could understand the history of a country.鈥�
We caught up with Fong 鈥� along with classified professionals Nang Thao, Meuy Saechao and Rosalie Kekahuna 鈥� to celebrate the work of Asian American and Pacific Islanders on campus during AAPI Heritage Month in May.
Nang Thao (Hmong)
As the Student Support Coordinator in the 吃瓜头条 AgTEC program, Nang Thao recruits students for the Ag Systems Certificiate program, an innovative competency-based education (CBE) initiative.
The program empowers field workers and others by recognizing and building upon their existing work skills while developing new competencies to help them succeed as the ag industry evolves. Thao, herself an immigrant eldest daughter, reaches out to other immigrants every day, offering a brighter future through the certificate program.
Thao鈥檚 Hmong parents sought the same. After the Vietnam War, Thao鈥檚 father Xai Toua Yang disobeyed his own father by fleeing Vietnam, quietly crossing the Mekong Delta to avoid Communist patrols, and escaping through the jungle to a refugee camp. Nang was born in that camp in September 1987.
Her family then arrived in Texas in December 1987 before making their way to California.
鈥淢y dad talked about the blood, sweat and tears it took to get our family to America,鈥� Thao said. 鈥淗e reminded us growing up that every day, we have an opportunity to do something with our lives. It makes me tearful thinking about it, even 10 years after my dad passed away.鈥�
Thao鈥檚 parents succeeded. Four of the five Thao children, including Nang, are Stanislaus State graduates, and the fifth earned a degree from the University of the Pacific.
鈥淢y parents were immigrants, and it was so hard for them to navigate life in the U.S.,鈥� Thao said. 鈥淪o for us, they were a compass, pointing us in the right direction. My dad taught us to always ask the right question, to read between the lines, so we could get to where we needed to go.鈥�
Thinking about how her father enrolled at 吃瓜头条 later in his life, and had to drop out to support his family, keeps Thao focused on what鈥檚 important in her job.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a beautiful concept,鈥� she said about the CBE program. 鈥淪omeone like my dad who wanted to go to school can go now without having to stop work. These low-income, migrant families maybe never thought they鈥檇 have a connection to college. And now they do.鈥�
Meuy Saechao (Mien)
Payroll Specialist Meuy Saechao, an alumna with an AA in Accounting, will celebrate 25 years working at 吃瓜头条 in June.
鈥淚 consider it a privilege to have worked here so long,鈥� she said.
Saechao has that privilege because her family, which comes from the Mien ethnic group in Thailand, immigrated to Oregon when she was 11. Landing in Aloha, Ore., was a bit of luck, since she then attended a Mien Christian youth camp in Redding, Calif., every summer.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 where I met my husband,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 from Merced. I ended up in Merced because of marriage.鈥�
Those American experiences helped Saechao to thrive after a tough start, caring for her five siblings with no formal education when the family arrived in the U.S. in 1989.
鈥淚鈥檇 look out the classroom window and wonder what the teacher was saying,鈥� Saechao said. 鈥淪ometimes I鈥檇 cry. I had to repeat fifth grade because I hadn鈥檛 learned anything. But that was a good thing. It gave me time to grow.鈥�
Saechao feels grateful for the difficulties she overcame.
鈥淚 realized my life here was different than in Thailand,鈥� she said. 鈥淟ike at school, during Thanksgiving, we鈥檇 have turkey and all the trimmings. Most American kids take that for granted, but I enjoyed it so much. For me, it was a whole new world.鈥�
Saechao, now mother to a 10-year-old son, connects life in a poor mountain village in Thailand to the humility and compassion she feels now while working in the 吃瓜头条 payroll department.
鈥淓veryone comes from a different family dynamic,鈥� she said. 鈥淓veryone has tough times. I have to remember that. I remind myself to just serve our people. In Mien they say, 鈥楾o be a leader, you have to be a worker first.鈥� So I always tell my husband, 鈥楪od sees everything we do, even the little things.鈥欌��
Rosalie Kekahuna (Hawaiian)
Growing up on the mainland, Rosalie Kekahuna learned to love her Hawaiian roots thanks to her mother Agnes, who is half Hawaiian and half Portuguese.
As an adult, Kekahuna stayed connected to her Hawaiian side by keeping the Hawaiian last name of her late father, U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Paul Kekahuna, a Korean War veteran buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
Kekahuna, now an Administrative Coordinator in Student Services a mother to three sons and a daughter, has gotten creative to ensure her children appreciate their lineage.
She remembers working with a young Black woman in another department years ago, talking about Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), and thinking, 鈥淚 wish we had something like HBCUs for my kids to tie to their Hawaiian roots.鈥�
Then the light bulb went on and she remembered Kamehameha Schools. The private school system in Hawaii, anchored by a $15.8-billion endowment and a sterling academic reputation, is committed to immersing Hawaiian students in their culture and language so both survive.
Native Hawaiians have enrollment priority; mainland students with Hawaiian heritage, like Kekahuna鈥檚 children, find it difficult to get in. But her son Kaneen graduated from Kamehameha Schools in 2019, and her daughter Kanalani will be a high school senior there next fall.
Kekahuna has sacrificed time with her children to ensure they get that specific education. Working in counseling, she maintains a similar vigilance for the big picture.
鈥淎s the youngest of 11 in my family, I had to navigate my own education,鈥� she said. 鈥淎 big part of what I do is to make sure our students can do the same with the proper support system.鈥�
Kekahuna, in her 20th year at 吃瓜头条, now honors her Hawaiian blood by respecting racial, ethnic and cultural diversity.
鈥淥ur 吃瓜头条 students often question their race and identity,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 have learned how not to make assumptions about them. I try to approach students with openness and to listen to their experiences so they feel comfortable and seen and heard.鈥�
Adam Fong (Chinese)
Five years ago, Fong developed and began teaching a course on the History of Asian Americans. Ever since, his motivation to research his own family has grown, because he realized how much history they鈥檇 experienced.
His grandfather served in World War II, and at least one uncle served in the Korean War. His mom, a San Francisco State college student in the late 1960s, experienced student protests led by Black students and eventually teaming up with Asian and Latinx students. That campus unrest led to the creation of the first College of Ethnic Studies in the U.S.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if my family is the central piece to that history,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I understand that the history my family witnessed 鈥� their stories about those times 鈥� might open up different ways to analyze our collective history.鈥�
Fong will interview 43 family members over the age of 18, including himself. The interviews, followup conversations, analysis, and documentary research 鈥� the National Archives at San Francisco, located in San Bruno, holds immigration records for Angel Island, a.k.a. the Ellis Island of the West 鈥� will take up most of Fong鈥檚 sabbatical year.
The work will help Fong enrich and personalize the courses he already teaches. He plans to produce a reference of his findings for his family members, so 鈥渢he stories don鈥檛 get lost.鈥�
He is also open to making the larger time commitment to publish his work in scholarly journals or a future book chapter.
鈥淭his is the discovery phase,鈥� he said. 鈥淚ntegrating my research into a larger narrative would be the next project.鈥�
Fong, 52, said he hopes the work will help illuminate what has happened to California families that endured beyond the immigrant generation and experienced things like bilingual households and multicultural marriages. He hopes to begin showing what the fourth generation experiences now.
He feels gratified to have reached this career crossroads.
鈥淭eaching at 吃瓜头条 has been so great for me personally,鈥� Fong said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been given the ability to create new courses. I鈥檓 starting a sabbatical. I very much appreciate the support.
鈥淲hen my mom passed away in 2024, she knew about the research I wanted to do. Then my sister passed away at the beginning of this year. So this all feels very timely. I鈥檓 excited to start this project.鈥�