Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Students Association Explained

The Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Students Association (ITASA) (Chinese (Traditional): 美國台裔學生協會) was established by a group of students in the East Coast and Midwest of the United States to grow the Taiwanese American college community. ITASA is a national 501(c)(3) non-profit organization staffed by students and recent graduates to serve their peers and their respective campuses. ITASA provides the spaces for networking, community building, leadership training, and identity-building which are critical to the future of the Taiwanese American generation.

History

On July 4, 1990, a group of second generation Taiwanese Americans converged on the campuses of Cornell University as a part of the Taiwanese American Conference/East Coast (TAC/EC) at Donlon Lounge to commence discussions regarding an intercollegiate Taiwanese Council. "We nicknamed ourselves ‘seeds,’ a term used as the agents to organically grow the Taiwanese community including a Taiwanese American Collegiate Network,” recalls Winston Yang, the organizer for the 1991 meeting of the ITASA “seeds.” During the 1991 meeting, about twenty representatives from schools like Harvard, Columbia, Yale, University of Pennsylvania, Smith, Rutgers, and NYU converged on the campuses of Columbia University for three days.

The first ITASA East Coast Conference took place at the University of Pennsylvania in 1992 (ITSA), followed by Yale University in 1993. The first Midwest ITASA conference took place the same year at Purdue University. From then on, ITASA held two conferences annually on the East Coast and the Midwest, until 1999, when the first annual West Coast Conference was held at the University of California, Berkeley, thus completing the three-region conference series which continues today.

In the beginning, ITASA conferences were self-financed and catered by students' own families. Attendance ranged from 35 to 300 people.

On February 17, 1998, ITASA was formally incorporated as a 501(c)(3) religious/cultural tax-exempt nonprofit corporation in Delaware by Incorporator Kok-ui Lim with the help of many other people, including Jimmy Ho, Audrey Jean, Cathy Hsu, Tim Chng, Rolla Chng, et al.

The founders of ITASA presided for several years and had tried several ways to generate successors. They created a steering committee of positions including the quaintly termed "Computer Operator" and recruited interested students from schools all over the nation to help run the organization. Many members of the steering committee have noted that they lacked the experience and motivation to run a geographically dispersed student organization. Staff experience increased with the command of Jimmy, Audrey, Cathy, and others. This new generation of ITASA leaders, all recent conference directors on the East Coast, helped to secure ITASA's financial and organizational future by facilitating the incorporation of ITASA into a 501(c)(3) corporation and investing ITASA's involvement on the regional level. They also developed ITASA's nascent web presence, centralized fundraising strategies, and brought greater structure to the national calendar of events and board responsibilities. From then on, the Board of Directors emerged from a group of veteran officers and new officers emerged from the conference leaders. Today, the ITASA National Board is selected every June from a pool of applicants from across the United States.

In 1998, Taiwanese American students at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Tufts University established the Boston Intercollegiate Taiwanese Students Association (BITSA) to serve the many campuses in the Boston area. BITSA works closely with ITASA at targeting its thriving community of local students.

In 1999, the first Annual Leadership Retreat was held at the University of Pennsylvania.

In 1999, ITASA "Regional Representatives" were added to the leadership structure. In 2003, Regional Representatives would become Regional Governors with more defined responsibilities.

In the spring of 1999, students at the University of California at Berkeley undertook the first West Coast Conference, bringing ITASA to three major regions across the United States.

In 2000, the Leadership Retreat Program was expanded to include the Midwest and West Coast Leadership Retreats. The first Midwest Leadership Retreat was held at Northwestern University with the West Coast Leadership Retreat hosted by Pomona College.

In 2001, ITASA's leadership structure was changed to its current form of a National Board overseen by a Board of Directors.

In 2003, Governor-led Regional Boards were established, replacing the single Regional Representative in each region and District Chairs took charge over the Districts, which were subdivided from the Regions.

In 2006, the first annual ITASA Winter Mixer in New York, NY was held.

In 2010, the Philanthropy Department was created. The Philanthropy Department plans and implements projects designed to further ITASA's mission statement.

In 2018, the Programs and Philanthropy departments were merged, as were the Marketing and Public Relations department.

In 2020, the External Affairs Department was created. The External Affairs Department aims to advocate for Taiwanese/ Taiwanese American rights representing the voice of college students across the US. Marketing and Public Relations Departments were once again separated into two departments. Marketing focuses on social media online presence and Public Relations focuses on outreach. The National Board introduced the co-national director system for most of the departments.

Approach

While setting goals, the National Board has identified 5 levels of student activism. The community at large needed more resources to educate, unite, and equip the general body of Taiwanese Americans across the United States. The campuses at each school needed support in getting linked to the nationwide network and founding new chapters of Taiwanese American student groups. The individual students required more information, ideas, contacts, outlets, and guidelines for personal and collective activism.

Programs

ITASA Grants

ITASA Grants was started during the 2018–2019 Academic Year following various inquiries about whether ITASA can help fund chapter events. The program comes as a combination of the previous Regional Grants Initiative and the ITASA Awards program. For the Spring 2019 Academic Term, ITASA helped to fund 3 different events at the University of Chicago, University of Texas at Austin, and Binghamton University for a grand total of $1,000.

Conference timeline

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Conferences

Date	Venue	Conference	Theme	Conference Director(s)
Spring, 1992	University of Pennsylvania	ITSA	Pointing a new direction for the future
Spring, 1992	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	TAScon	Taiwanese American Students Conference - Proud to be Taiwanese American
Fall, 1992	Brown University	ITASA Cultural Conference
Fall, 1992	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	ITASA/TASC Cultural Conference
Spring, 1993	Yale University	ITASA East Coast Conference
Spring, 1993	Purdue University	ITASA Midwest Conference	Where are we now? Where are we from? Where are we going?
Spring, 1993	University of Western Ontario	ITASA/CAN	A bridget to the future
Fall, 1993	University of Michigan at Ann Arbor	ITASA Midwest Conference	Shaping the Future: A Challenge for Taiwanese Americans
Spring, 1994	Princeton University	ITASA East Coast Conference
Spring, 1994	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	ITASA Midwest Conference
Spring, 1995	Harvard University	ITASA East Coast Conference
Fall, 1995	University of Michigan at Ann Arbor	ITASA Midwest Conference
February 2 – February 4, 1996	Brown University	ITASA East Coast Conference
October 18 – October 19, 1996	Northwestern University	ITASA Midwest Conference	Voice and VisionTalking About Today, Looking Towards Tomorrow
Spring, 1997	Cornell University	ITASA East Coast Conference
Spring, 1998	Princeton University	ITASA East Coast Conference	Taiwanese Eyes, American Visions
April 10 – April 12, 1998	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	ITASA Midwest Conference	Express Yourself
November 13 – November 14, 1998	Harvard University	BITSA Conference	Fortune's Way: Exploring the Taiwanese-American's Path to Success
February 4 – February 7, 1999	Yale University	ITASA East Coast Conference	Made In Taiwan
April 9 – April 11, 1999	University of Michigan at Ann Arbor	ITASA Midwest Conference	Links to the Past, Keys to the Future
April 10 – April 11, 1999	University of California at Berkeley	ITASA West Coast Conference	A Journey Through Our Taiwanese-American Experience
November 16, 1999	Harvard University	BITSA Conference	Old-School-New School: Bridging the Taiwanese-American Past and Future
February 18 – February 20, 2000	Brown University	ITASA East Coast Conference	Breaking Boundaries, Building Bridges
March 31 – April 2, 2000	Northwestern University	ITASA Midwest Conference	The Next Generation
April 7 – April 9, 2000	Stanford University	ITASA West Coast Conference
November 11, 2000	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	BITSA Conference	Inspiration and Expression: The Taiwanese-American in the New Millennium
March 1 – March 3, 2001	University of Pennsylvania	ITASA East Coast Conference	ITASA: One Revolution
March 15 – March 18, 2001	University of Michigan at Ann Arbor	ITASA Midwest Conference	Obey Your Core: Yam I Am
Spring, 2001	University of California at Los Angeles	ITASA West Coast Conference	Cause An Effect: Empowering a New Generation
October 27, 2001	Wellesley College	BITSA Conference	Movement: Raising a New Voice
February 14 – February 17, 2002	Harvard University	ITASA East Coast Conference	Transition and Translation: Looking Within to Reach Beyond
April 5 – April 7, 2002	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	ITASA Midwest Conference	Flash Forward: Taiwan Beyond the Boundaries
April 5 – April 7, 2002	University of Southern California	ITASA West Coast Conference	Entering New Dimensions
November 16, 2002	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	BITSA Conference	Impressions
February 27 – March 2, 2003	Columbia University	ITASA East Coast Conference	Biting Into the Yam
April 4 – April 6, 2003	University of Washington at Seattle	ITASA West Coast Conference	Building Parallel Generations
November 15, 2003	Tufts University	BITSA Conference	Made In Taiwan: Defining a Culture
February 5 – February 8, 2004	Yale University	ITASA East Coast Conference	Choose Your Flavor
March 5 – March 7, 2004	University of Michigan at Ann Arbor	ITASA Midwest Conference	Reunion
April 2 – April 4, 2004	Stanford University	ITASA West Coast Conference	Seeking the New Taiwan Spirit
February 24 – February 26, 2005	Rutgers University at New Brunswick	ITASA East Coast Conference	Perpetual Motion
April 7 – April 9, 2005	University of Southern California	ITASA West Coast Conference	One Step Ahead
2005	Northwestern University	ITASA Midwest Conference	Beyond the Spectrum
February 9 – February 11, 2006	New York University	ITASA East Coast Conference	Unity
March 31 – April 2, 2006	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	ITASA Midwest Conference	Remix
April 6 – April 8, 2006	University of California at Los Angeles	ITASA West Coast Conference	Discovering the Taiwanese American Consciousness
February 2 – February 4, 2007	Harvard University	ITASA East Coast Conference	The World Is Not Enough
March 30 – April 2, 2007	University of Michigan at Ann Arbor	ITASA Midwest Conference	Team Taiwan
April 12 – April 15, 2007	Stanford University	ITASA West Coast Conference	Rekindling the Flame
February 21 – February 23, 2008	University of Pennsylvania	ITASA East Coast Conference	Kaleidoscope
April 4 – April 6, 2008	Northwestern University	ITASA Midwest Conference	Hand in Hand
February 19 – February 22, 2009	Duke University	ITASA East Coast Conference	Bringing it Back Home
April 2 – April 4, 2009	University of Southern California	ITASA West Coast Conference	Creative Identity of Ambiguity
April 17 – April 19, 2009	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	ITASA Midwest Conference	Illuminate
February 18 – February 20, 2010	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	ITASA East Coast Conference	Live in HD
March 26 – March 28, 2010	University of Texas at Austin	ITASA Midwest Conference	Round Up
April 1 – April 4, 2010	University of California at San Diego	ITASA West Coast Conference	Sailing Beyond The Horizon
January 27 – January 30, 2011	Princeton University	ITASA East Coast Conference	Taking it to the Top
April 7 – April 9, 2011	University of California at Berkeley	ITASA West Coast Conference	Next Stop: Taiwan
April 15 – April 17, 2011	Northwestern University	ITASA Midwest Conference	Taiwan Unwrapped
February 16 – February 19, 2012	Georgia Institute of Technology	ITASA East Coast Conference	The Tipping Point
April 6 – April 8, 2012	University of Michigan at Ann Arbor	ITASA Midwest Conference	Renewal
February 14 – February 17, 2013	New York University & Columbia University	ITASA East Coast Conference	Igniting Infinite Possibilities
April 4 – April 7, 2013	University of California, Los Angeles	ITASA West Coast Conference	Crescendo: Voices of Taiwanese America
April 12 – April 13, 2013	The Ohio State University	ITASA Midwest Conference	Taiwan Taking Root
February 13 – February 16, 2014	Yale University	ITASA East Coast Conference	Work In Progress
April 3 – April 6, 2014	University of California at Berkeley	ITASA West Coast Conference	Pause. Rewind. Play.
April 10 – April 13, 2014	University of Texas at Austin	ITASA Midwest Conference	Leveling Up
February 12 – February 15, 2015	University of Pennsylvania	ITASA East Coast Conference	Interface
March 5 – March 8, 2015	University of Southern California	ITASA West Coast Conference	To Infinity and Beyond
April 3 – April 5, 2015	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	ITASA Midwest Conference	Plot Twist
February 11 – February 14, 2016	University of Maryland	ITASA East Coast Conference	Routes (Roots) of Action
March 31 – April 3, 2016	Stanford University	ITASA West Coast Conference	Treasure Island
April 8 – April 10, 2016	Northwestern University	ITASA Midwest Conference	Underwater	Harry Tong
February 16 - February 18, 2017	New York University	ITASA East Coast Conference	Intertrak	Catherine Chang
March 31 - April 2, 2017	University of Michigan, Ann Arbor x University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	ITASA Midwest Conference	Lí chiah pá bô?	Grace Wu, Jason Yeh
April 6 - April 9, 2017	University of California, Davis	ITASA West Coast Conference	Lights! Camera! ACTION!	Jennie Chang
February 8 - February 10, 2018	Rutgers University	ITASA East Coast Conference	Glowing Up	Steven Cheng
March 30 - April 1, 2018	Case Western Reserve University x The Ohio State University	ITASA Midwest Conference	In Visibility	Alicia Chang, Sharon Yeh
February 14 – February 17, 2019	University of Pennsylvania	ITASA National Conference	Me and Ama	Amy Chen, Peter Sheu
February 6 – February 9, 2020	University of Maryland, College Park	ITASA East Coast Conference	Recognize to Reconnect	Yvonne Chen
February 5 - February 7, 2021	Johns Hopkins University	ITASA East Coast Conference	Sketching Your Own Path	Sabrina Wang
April 9 - April 11, 2021	University of Michigan, Ann Arbor	ITASA Midwest Conference	Branch & Bound	Brian Lin, Serena Yee
TBA	Rutgers University	ITASA East Coast Conference	TBA	Ashley Chen, Thomas Eldralin
TBA	The Ohio State University	ITASA Midwest Conference	TBA	Kristen Wang, Yushin Jeng