Charting the Future: Changemakers
Dartmouth alumni continue to drive change beyond their time in Hanover. While there is much work to be done, Dartmouth has long been a notable incubator for students to personally grapple with identity, voice, and representation, and to learn leadership, mobilization, and social impact. In 2009, Dartmouth was named one of the top universities for Asian Americans. As the student population grows in size, complexity, and needs, so does its alumni body, prompting DAPAAA to consider its role and impact. DAPAAA members are exploring what being Asian and AANHPI means and continuing to collaborate in the next 25 years and beyond.
Michael Chu '68 P'06
Speakers at the dedication of the Corey Ford Rugby Clubhouse, Michael Chu ’68, P’06, Trustee (2000-2009)
Michael Chu ’68 P’06
Raised in Uruguay, Chu was the first alumnus of Asian descent to serve as Trustee of Dartmouth (2000-2009). Dartmouth AANHPI alumni continue to serve on the highest levels of alumni leadership, including Trustees Susie Huang ’84 and Neal Katyal ’91 in 2023. Others include Leslie Chao ’78, Presidential Leadership Council, Hopkins Advisory Board; Lisha Davis T’10, Chair, Tuck Association of Diverse Alumni; the late Freddie Fu ’74 DMS ‘75, Geisel Board of Advisors; Joanna Jen Tuck ’08, Co-Chair, Tuck Association of Diverse Alumni; Akiko Maeda Tuck ’02, Tuck Asia Pacific Council; Maxine Mauricio ’93, Board of Visitors of The Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences, and the Native American Visiting Committee; Chitra Narashimhan ’92, Alumni Council President ex-officio; Kinya Seto Tuck ’96, Tuck Advisory Council; Steven Tseng ’95 Tuck ’01, Hood and Tuck Advisory Boards; Bernardine Wu ’90, Chair Emeritus, Women of Dartmouth.
Mindy Chokalingam (Kaling) ’01
Mindy Kaling ’01 was a member of the Dog Day Players and cartoonist of Badly Drawn Girl. She returned to campus in 2018 as the commencement speaker. Other alums such as Eleanor Mak ’01, creator of a line of Asian American dolls, and writers Frances Cha ’07, Megan Kakimoto ’15, and Minh Lê ’01, leverage their work to give greater voice and representation to AANHPIs.
DAPAAA First Starting Out
DAPAAA First General Meeting
On March 18, 1998, DAPAAA held its first meeting to “foster community among the Asian Pacific American alumni of the College…further the intellectual, social, cultural and educational well-being of the Asian Pacific American alumni and students of the College, as well as to provide the College and the greater College community, with the active support of the Asian Pacific American alumni in matters of mutual concern.”
DAPAAA Official Recognition
On March 18, 1999, DAPAAA received official affiliated alumni group status with the College. Past chairs and presidents: Sarah Cho ’97, Ruby (Chan) Huang ’00, Rachel Kim ’98, Belinda Chiu ’98, Holden Chi Hoon Lee, Andrew Chu ’01, Victoria Moy ’03, Debra Liu ‘07, Fang Li ’05, Ariel Xue ’08, Stephanie Yu ’97, Sharon Cho ’17, Sonia Qin ’19, Sarah Gupta ’19, Kimberly Sheu ’07, Stephanie Westnedge ’92, and Ezekial Carlos ’19.
Agenda for DAPAAA’s Inaugural reunion May 24-25, 2002, Hanover, NH
In 2002, Nora Yasumura and Belinda Chiu ’98 organized a mini-reunion on campus to document the community’s history, drawing from notable alumni, including Lo-Yi Chan ’54, campus master planner, Hoyt Zia ’75, founder of DAO, and Celia Chen ’78 Guarini ’94, one of the first AANHPI women at Dartmouth and a faculty member as of 2023.
DAPAAA 10th year reunion, New York City, 2008
DAPAAA celebrated its tenth year in New York City. Dartmouth alumni continue to drive change in countless fields, such as former NYC superintendent Alan Cheng ’03, orthopedic giant the late Freddi Fu ’74 DMS’75, tech founder Jason Hsiao ’98, the U.S. trailblazing attorney Hoyt Zia ’75, drone proponent Kenji Sugahara ’95, and entrepreneur Tracy Sun Tuck ’05. Tuck’s AANHPI alum also present an impressive list of current and former CEOs and presidents, including Yuki Aoyama Tuck ’17 (Splink), Hiroshi Hashiguch Tuck ’03 (Euphoria), Sumito Kawano Tuck ’05 (Yaoko), Kinya Keto Tuck ’96 (Lixil), Akiko Maeda Tuck ’02 (former Bacardi), and Naohiko Kitsuita Tuck ’96 (Rakuten Stay Asset Management).
Profile: Defender of Democracy
Geeta Anand ’89 P’22
Geeta at her graduation in 1989 with her parents and sister
Daughter of an Indian father and a Euroamerican mother, Geeta Anand ’89 arrived from Mumbai, India, drawn to The Dartmouth, the rural location, and the cold. Anand found community in the international community and in activist circles, particularly around the College’s investment in South Africa and sexism in the lyrics of its alma mater.
She knew journalism was for her, leveraging her talent for writing and finding joy in the act of storytelling. Her early experiences at small, local papers confirmed the power of local news in protecting democracy. After stints at the Boston Globe and Wall Street Journal, Anand relocated to India, raising two daughters, Tatyana and Aleka ’22, with Greg Kroitzsh ’87, covering the subcontinent for the New York Times, this time as a foreigner in her country of birth. These experiences solidified the pride she holds as a South Asian woman, expanding her capacity to see broader perspectives and have greater compassion for the “other.” Along the way, Anand won a Pulitzer Prize and published The Cure, which turned into a movie, Extraordinary Measures starring Harrison Ford
Geeta Anand ’89, Dean of the University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, told members of the Class of 2020 to have the courage to know when it is time to move on to the next chapter of life. (Photo by Rob Strong ’04)
Now serving as dean and professor at UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, she takes her responsibility to create accessibility and diversity seriously, including raising $25 million in state funding in one year to create a new program sending her school’s graduates on two-year fellowships to remote corners of California to cover local news. She also raised $10 million in private philanthropy to double financial aid for her students. As one of the few women of color leaders in the field, she serves as a catalyst in promoting democracy by ensuring that stories are told from diverse lenses of lived experiences.
Continuing to support Dartmouth, she served on the Board of Visitors for the Dickey Center for International Understanding and graced the stage as the Class of 2020 Commencement Speaker. Anand credits Dartmouth administrators and professors who helped her “believe in [her]self and [her] ability to make change in the world” to challenge systems. While the change was not immediate, the fact that Dartmouth eventually changed the words of the alma mater and divested from South Africa, made her believe that she could have a voice and an impact in the world - "because I saw it at Dartmouth.”