Leaders reflect on 25 years of AHANA

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of the AHANA acronym, the term that has entered Boston College's lexicon to identify students of African-American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American descent.

The term was created by Valerie Lewis, BC '79, and fellow classmate Alfred Feliciano. It came in direct response to the renaming of the Black Talent Program to the Office of Minority Student Programs, a move made as the University sought to open the program to other students of color.

"The Black Talent Program spoke to a specific group of students who were united ethnically and culturally," said Lewis. "The term 'minority student' didn't do that. It didn't identify the rest of the candidates who were involved, their rich cultures, their language, their identity."

Lewis said that the name of the program had been determined for them and involved little to no student input, something that she felt brought up issues of identity.

"I strongly believe that how you identify a person is how they view themselves and how the world views them," said Lewis. "There was no self-determination involved by the students in being able to name the program that would directly affect them."

"They [the BC administration] did not seem to have the same vision in reference to names having any significance," she added. "It was about survival and our [AHANA students'] life on campus in future years."

In 1976, Lewis looked to create an appropriate name for students of color, deeming the term "minority" improper.

"I have always felt that the term 'minority' was pejorative," said Lewis. "It does not identify the students it sought to reach out to at all."

"Also, when you take all people in those particular cultures and put them on a global scale, they are not a minority," she added. "They are actually the majority."

Lewis contrived the term "AHA" by melding together African-American, Hispanic, and Asian, which were then some of the dominant ethnicities on campus. When presented with the term, Feliciano was hesitant, feeling that it was too open to misinterpretation and ridicule.

"[Feliciano] agreed with the concept of us naming ourselves, but he felt 'AHA' just left too much room for misinterpretation or for us to be made the brunt of a joke," said Lewis. "In the course of the conversation, it also became crystal clear to us through Dr. Donald Brown that we had left out a very vital group of people who had been fundamentally discriminated against: our Native American brothers and sisters. It was at that point that 'NA' became attached to the word, 'AHANA.'"

The AHANA acronym was coined by the students on Sept. 27, 1979, and through Feliciano's efforts the AHANA Leadership Council (ALC), was presented to the Student Life Committee of the Board of Trustees in the same year.

"Alfie has to be cited for taking the initial vision I had and adding to that vision that spoke to all students of color and then being the catalyst that propelled it through the BC administration to have it become forever embedded in university life," said Lewis. "It was a vision that arose almost out of desperation to name ourselves when the university was going through change."

The fact that the students exercised self-determination allowed the term to be more openly embraced by the BC community, according to r. Donald Brown, director of the Office of AHANA Student Programs.

"What is represented more than anything is that it's been a lightning rod in bringing students of color together on the campus," said Brown.

"Rather than running away from the term 'minority' over the years AHANA students have run to the Office of AHANA Student Programs," he added. "They've rallied around the term."

Brown said that the concept of the coalition promoted by the AHANA acronym not only plays itself out on BC's campus but also in the greater Boston community through the re-election of Andrea Cabral, BC '81, as sheriff of the Boston Police Department.

"Andrea Cabral was very much involved in the AHANA community when she was here," said Brown. "Her election, she stated, was a result of people of color and progressive whites coming together. So in her election the AHANA concept was played out. It was about a coalition."

Twenty-five years later, the AHANA acronym stands as the umbrella under which BC students of color are identified. The history behind the acronym, however, can get lost without proper education, according to Charles A. Grandson IV, ALC president and CSOM '05.

"The problem is that people use the term 'AHANA' without knowing its intention and its history," said Grandson.

"Also, sometimes problems that affect groups within the AHANA community are referred to as just African-American, Hispanic, Asian, or Native American issue when they are largely AHANA issues," he added.

He also pointed out that AHANA is not a club or organization; it is an adjective used to describe the ethnicities it covers.

Grandson regarded ignorance of the term's history as a reason why both AHANA and non-AHANA students are cautious about using the acronym.

"Non-AHANA and AHANA students are afraid to use it because on this campus in the 21st century, people are trying not to polarize people," said Grandson. "The term wasn't meant to polarize; it was meant to unite. If people knew the history and its significance, they would know how to use it."

Grandson praised BC's promotion of the acronym but saw room for improvement.

"BC doesn't do enough to affirm the meaning within its own walls," said Grandson. "I would really like to see Fr. Leahy speak on the acronym's significance to BC in front of the student body."

ALC and the AHANA Caucus have several events planned in celebration of the acronym's anniversary, including a rally in the Dustbowl in November and the Week of AHANA Celebration immediately after Winter Break.

That week will feature several lectures, including an address by Feliciano and the annual ALC Showdown, a show that features performances from different cultural groups and dance troupes.