Members of the Asian, Pacific Islander and Desi American (APIDA) student community at Michigan State University also issued a set of demands calling for changes in a range of areas, including resident adviser hiring and training procedures and protocols for reporting and responding to hate and bias incidents. The students also called for the representation of APIDA-identifying individuals in the counseling and career services centers, for the expansion of resources for undocumented students, and for more investments in APIDA student success initiatives, cultural programming and Asian and ethnic studies programs.
Shiksha Sneha, a senior at Michigan State and the chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer for the Associated Students of MSU, said the Georgia attacks “really pushed a lot of our communities together to really work on these demands. It gave us the momentum and the space for the administration to come and listen to us.”