AHANA's Beginning Explored

Last Thursday night, students gathered in Robsham Theater to celebrate the spirit embodied by the AHANA acronym, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. When students walked in, they were greeted this phrase projected onto a bright screen: "AHANA: more than just an acronym." This was certainly the night's theme; the audience heard from several prominent Boston College alumni who spoke about the development of the acronym, coined by Valerie Lewis-Mosley, BC '79, and Alfred Feliciano, BC '81, as well as the continued importance of the term today. Student leaders of the AHANA Acronym Celebration Committee Ashley Woods, A&S '10, Bryan Leyva, A&S '10, Micaela Mabida, CSOM '11, and Susan Choy, CSOM '11, teamed up with the Office of AHANA Student Programs (OASP), the AHANA Leadership Council, the AHANA Caucus, and the Undergraduate Government of BC to put together a series of opening-week events to celebrate the occasion, ending with the panel Thursday night.

Mabida and Leyva opened the night, using words such as "strength," "unity," and "heritage" to explain what the AHANA acronym has grown to symbolize over its 30-year life-span. Rev. J. Donald Monan, S.J., former BC president, also shared his thoughts on the AHANA acronym, especially accentuating the term's history and the ways in which it originally affected the BC campus. Monan, who approved the acronym in 1979, said of his decision to change the name from Office of Minority Student Programs to Office of AHANA Student Programs: "It was one of the easiest decisions I made as president." Monan knew that, aside from having a negative connotation, the use of the word minority categorized students in a certain way that he felt stripped them of their individuality. Monan said that the term AHANA more clearly emphasized the unique differences among cultures, and he hoped that with its introduction into the BC community, the unique attributes of various ethnic backgrounds could become more pronounced and appreciated.

Despite the faith he had in the concept of AHANA, Monan was nervous that the term would get lost in the pool of countless other BC acronyms. He feared that students would not adapt to the new word or that it may go unused, as many terms that change after they have already acquired a reputation often do. To his relief, however, the term rapidly spread throughout the BC community and, to the whole school's surprise, soon extended to other nearby universities.

Today BC has granted permission for the acronym's use to over 50 universities, and many more use it unofficially. Monan expressed his gratitude to BC for helping AHANA become "one of the University's key programs" and said he was "celebrating all of those who daily give the name new vitality."

The night's featured speakers were four BC alumni, all of whom had held student leader positions or influenced AHANA programs while attending BC. Parris Battle, BC '80; Vivian 'Joe' Wong, BC '8;, Oscar Santos, BC '95; and Paul Madden, BC '07; each recounted different experiences about the way in which they viewed AHANA, the role it played in their college careers, and why the term continues to be important today.

When asked how being an AHANA student affected his BC experience, Battle, former Black Student Forum President and influential member in the formation of the AHANA acronym, gave insight to the frustrating racism that existed when he attended BC in the late '70s. Injustices he experienced called him to make equality his mission while enrolled at BC. "When you are a member of the 'minority,' you make it your business to leave a mark on the campus," Battle said.

A student activist, Battle raised several important points about the AHANA acronym at BC today but especially focused on the importance of continuing to recruit AHANA faculty. After BC's debut of the AHANA acronym, the retention rate of AHANA students increased significantly. Battle stressed that in order to continue to retain AHANA students, BC needs to provide these students with powerful, positive faculty role models with whom they can associate.

As a Caucasian male attending college in the 2000s, Madden experienced BC differently than Battle but also actively participated in and supported the AHANA programs. He played the roles of both FACES co-director and orientation leader, so he had the opportunity to experience many different facets of the BC community. Madden expressed frustrations about strained race interactions; "We may have different histories and experiences, but yet we also all have similarities," Madden said. During his college career at BC, he was an important interracial activist, and he encouraged current BC students of all ethnicities to be the same.

While AHANA seems to be a positive addition to the BC community, some students believe that the term segregates AHANA students rather than assimilating them into the BC community. To confront these opinions, the panelists cited candid comments about the role that the AHANA community played during their career at BC. Wong called AHANA a starting point for his journey. The combination of living on his own while adjusting to a new group of people proved overwhelming; "I needed a safe haven, like the Office of AHANA Student Programs, to catch my breath," Wong said. Only once OASP helped him gain the skills he needed to effectively handle the college experience could he go back into the BC community and begin to share himself and his culture with other students. Wong said, though, that he never used his status as an AHANA student as a crutch: "I would never allow the title to define who I am, but it did give me the support and sustenance that I needed to successfully acclimate to the Boston College community," he said.

As the end of the panel neared, Leyva asked the panelists about their hopes for BC in the future. Santos applauded the Jesuit social justice mission of BC but also challenged both students and faculty to truly fulfill that mission by reaching out to students on the cusp of being admitted to the college. "These are the people who need the most help, so real social justice needs to be exemplified through our admissions process," Santos said. As a headmaster in a Boston international high school, Santos has many opportunities to form relationships with capable teenagers who might need extra encouragement to apply and be accepted to prestigious colleges.