• On January 21, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.” This directive is part of a broader, alarming effort to roll back Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives at institutions across the country, including colleges and universities. These attacks on DEI are not about "restoring merit"—they are about silencing marginalized communities, erasing decades of progress in equity and inclusion, and restricting access to opportunities for historically underrepresented groups. 

    What is DEI? Why does it matter?

    Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is a commitment to ensuring that all students, regardless of their background, have access to the same opportunities and resources to succeed. Equity recognizes that systemic barriers exist and works to remove them. Inclusion ensures that all students, especially those from marginalized communities, feel seen, heard, and valued on campus. These principles are not about exclusion or unfair advantages, but rather about creating a campus where all students have a fair and meaningful chance to thrive.

    Who We Are

    As 7B, we collectively represent a majority of Penn’s student body. Our organizations—UMOJA, the Asian Pacific Student Coalition (APSC), the Latinx Coalition, the United Minorities Council (UMC), the Lambda Alliance, the Penn Association for Gender Equity (PAGE), and Natives at Penn (NAP)—exist because students from historically underrepresented backgrounds have had to fight for spaces where we can be heard, supported, and empowered. We are networks of solidarity, advocacy, and action.

    At Penn, diversity defines our student body. Across undergraduate and graduate programs, more than half of the student body identifies as members of racial, ethnic, or gender minority groups. This rollback directly attacks the progress made in ensuring that Penn and other institutions reflect the diverse and vibrant communities they serve.

    The Impact of These Rollbacks

    The Executive Order, along with broader national efforts to dismantle DEI, will:

    • Defund and eliminate DEI programs and offices at universities

    • Restrict the ability to collect and use demographic data in decision-making

    • Remove equity-focused scholarships, fellowships, and hiring initiatives

    • Threaten student-led advocacy and support systems for marginalized groups

    • Legitimize efforts to weaken protections against discrimination

    Without these initiatives, universities risk becoming more exclusionary, less diverse, and more hostile to students from underrepresented backgrounds.

    DEI Rollbacks at The University of Pennsylvania

    Penn has completely acquiesced to President Trump’s recent executive order, scrubbing their Diversity and Inclusion website, and replacing it with “Belonging at Penn” instead. This signals that our university is not holding firm in their previous commitments to fostering diversity and equity in all of Penn’s initiatives, programs, and operations. For example, Penn Carey Law School removed all information about the Dr. Sadie T.M. Alexander Scholarship Program, an initiative dedicated to boosting Black representation in the legal field. This program functioned under Penn Carey Law’s broader self-proclaimed “commitment to building an inclusive educational environment while working to dismantle the legacy of racial and economic injustice.” The removal of vital information about the “Sadie Scholars” program is just one example of how Penn has sacrificed its students for the sake of federal funding. Even lawmakers in the Philadelphia area have expressed stark disagreement with the University’s handling and interpretation of the executive order, condemning Penn’s DEI backpedaling. 

    Our Appreciation

    While these political developments have shaken many institutions and their commitments to DEI, the 7B is thankful and encouraged by Penn’s Cultural Resource Centers (CRCs). They have individually confirmed to leaders of the 7B, and through their public action, that the CRCs are still here to support DEI. Their mission has not changed. They remain a “home away from home” for all students at Penn, regardless of race, cultural background, religion, languages, or history. Moreover, the CRCs remain open to all students at Penn, not focusing or limiting their work to simply their respective cultural groups. We are extremely grateful for their commitment to this cause and the 7B as a whole. We will continue to work with the CRC to protect students’ welfare, interests, representation, and safety at Penn. 

    Our Call to Action

    We refuse to let this Executive Order erase our presence, advocacy, and commitment to justice.

    • To all student organizations with DEI committees: Use every legal avenue available to not change your names, missions, or commitments in response to these attacks. DEI is not just an administrative initiative—it is a movement that belongs to students.

    • To Penn’s administration: We demand transparency about how this Executive Order will impact policies and funding at Penn and expect clear commitments to protecting DEI initiatives. We ask you to continue to protect and preserve vital student support resources including the Cultural Resource Centers and funding boards for underrepresented communities. We offer our support through active engagement with you to address this concern and provide insight.

    • To the student body: Do not be misled. This rollback is not about fairness—it is about erasing the work of generations who have fought for equitable access to education. Stay engaged, support student-led DEI efforts, and refuse to let these changes go unchallenged.

    We are still here. We are still organizing. We are still fighting.

    Signed: 7B: UMOJA, Asian Pacific Student Coalition, Latinx Coalition, United Minorities Council, Lambda Alliance, Penn Association for Gender Equity, and Natives at Penn

    Megan Chan, Chair

    Isabella Wang, Vice Chair

    Simon Thomas, Vice Chair of Political Affairs

    Kayuga de Guzman, Vice Chair of Communications

    Queena Chen, Vice Chair of External Affairs

    Nicholas Dorazio, Vice Chair of Finance

    Abigail Macaraeg, Vice Chair of Constituent Affairs

  • December 14, 2024


    Members of the Philadelphia City Council,

    Many of us at Penn, including members of the APSC Executive Board, were born and raised in Philadelphia. For decades, Chinatown has served as the home far away from home for many of Penn’s Asian Pacific Islander students and beyond.

    Despite years of mass mobilization against the $1.3 Billion arena proposal from the Philadelphia community, you have disregarded the clear desires and asks of your citizens. This Thursday’s 12-4 vote advancing the legislation is a poignant testament to your failure as our elected representatives to adhere to the voice and needs of our community. Rather, you have chosen to prioritize the whims of billionaires and corporate interest over the values of local small businesses.

    The attempt by the City Council to increase the Community Benefits Agreement neither answers our questions nor solves the problem at hand. The issue is not solely that this plan displaces and directly affects people’s daily lives, including by significantly increasing traffic––impacting commutes and, more importantly, emergency response time and capabilities––but also that it disrupts and destroys the culture built up in Chinatown as an integral part of the Philadelphia municipality. The proposed plan offers little to no protections for Chinatown, Philadelphia’s public school system and its students, the patients and staff of Jefferson Hospital (the only level-one trauma center downtown), and the already cash-strapped SEPTA system.

    Every vote in favor of the 76 Place is a vote in favor of robbing our city—our children, working class, and citizens—of the proper education and economic resources that are desperately needed.

    As the student umbrella organization representing the University of Pennsylvania’s API student population, the Asian Pacific Student Coalition urges you to prioritize the needs of local communities and businesses over billionaire developers and to vote against the proposed Community Benefits Agreement and the plan to construct 76 Place on December 19th, 2024.

    We do not ask for this alone. We extend our heartfelt gratitude and support to the Philadelphia residents and organizations who have worked tirelessly to advocate for our culture, history, and people, including but not limited to: the Save Chinatown Coalition, Asian Americans United, the Students for the Preservation of Chinatown, the API Political Alliance, Black Philly 4 Chinatown, POWER Interfaith, the No Arena in Chinatown Solidarity Group, No Arena Philly Med, No Arena Gayborhood, and No Arena Washington Square West. We do not make this appeal solely on financial or political grounds, but as a call to preserve the culture, history, and heritage that define our city. We ask you to protect the City of Brotherly Love and its inhabitants.

    In Solidarity,

    Asian Pacific Student Coalition

    University of Pennsylvania

    Megan Chan, Chair

    Isabella Wang, Vice Chair

    Simon Thomas, Vice Chair of Political Affairs

    Kayuga de Guzman, Vice Chair of Communications

    Queena Chen, Vice Chair of External Affairs

    Nicholas Dorazio, Vice Chair of Finance

    Abigail Macaraeg, Vice Chair of Constituent Affairs

  • September 21, 2023

    STATEMENT REGARDING PALESTINE WRITES FESTIVAL

    For only the second time since its inauguration in 2020, the only North American literature festival dedicated to celebrating Palestinian writers and artists will be held on campus from September 22nd to 24th.


    As one of the very few spaces where Palestinian writers can have cultural agency despite historic and current fragmentation, the Palestine Writes Literature Festival serves as an important showcase of Palestinian art, literature, cinema, life, and history. Despite widespread interest and cosponsorship by numerous Penn departments, alongside time invested to plan sessions by faculty, students, and staff alike, the festival has recently been misrepresented under the false narrative Palestinian interests and existence are inherently anti-Semitic. Of this, we would like to draw a firm distinction between anti-Israel and anti-Semitic views and perspectives. 


    As the student umbrella organization representing Penn’s Asian American Pacific Islander population, the Asian Pacific Student Coalition supports the Palestine Writes Festival. 


    APSC unequivocally stands with Palestinian and Arab students, affirms their voices, and emphasizes their right to safety and expression on campus. 


    In 2012, then President Amy Gutmann refused to defend Palestinian students over a student-organized conference on the boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaign for Palestinian rights. History repeats itself with current President Liz Magill, Provost John Jackson, and School of Arts and Sciences Dean Steven Fluharty conflating the festival with the same anti-Semitic views they condemn. This racist and frankly inaccurate portrayal of Palestinian students as perpetrators of violence extends to students interested in attending by putting them in harm's way. 


    Given the university’s history of silence not only when hateful views were iterated by faculty and visitors but also in opposition toward Palestinian events– APSC calls upon the university to ensure the festival continues despite calls to shut it down and insists the university refrains from imposing extraneous burdens to limit the festival’s scope. 


    We fully agree with previous student statements, including those from Penn Arab Student Society, Penn Against the Occupation, Al-Maydan, Chavurah, and Fossil Free Penn. APSC emphasizes the importance of the festival as an affirmation of belonging for Palestinian and Arab students who sacrifice much time and energy to create spaces for community celebration. The silencing of Palestinian voices, dreams, and aspirations inherently goes against the support of diverse racial, cultural, and religious communities Penn claims to cultivate and downright denounces the benefits of the festival for Palestinian students.


    For this reason, we stand by the 36 vocal Penn Faculty in demanding Penn amends their statement to correct for this. In safeguarding future cultural events, future dialogue should not be reduced to weighing who is worthy of recognition– an inherently unbalanced scale as mentioned by Palestine Writes Executive Director Susan Abulhawa. Given the broad range of support, we call upon the university to stand in solidarity with the events its students, faculty, and staff hold dear and request the event not be misconstrued as anti-Semitic given the harm this perpetrates toward Jewish students through burying actual anti-Semitic attacks and rhetoric.


    We oppose the recent attempts to misrepresent and discredit the Palestine Writes Festival. We condemn efforts to suppress the voices of Penn’s Palestinian and Arab students, the Penn organizations and faculty associated with the Festival, and those who support the Festival. We emphasize these recent efforts only serve to alienate and exclude Palestinian and Arab students, compromising their safety and right to self-expression. In recognizing the equal right to cultural exchange, cultural preservation, and academic freedom, we reiterate the importance of the Palestine Writes Festival in protecting and uplifting communities which have been historically marginalized and engendering hope for their future.

    In solidarity, 

    Asian Pacific Student Coalition

    University of Pennsylvania

    Megan Chan, Chair

    Isabella Wang, Vice Chair

    Simon Thomas, Vice Chair of Political Affairs

    Kayuga de Guzman, Vice Chair of Communications

    Queena Chen, Vice Chair of External Affairs

    Nicholas Dorazio, Vice Chair of Finance

    Abigail Macaraeg, Vice Chair of Constituent Affairs

  • STATEMENT REGARDING AMY WAX’S COMMENTS

    January 12, 2022


    The University of Pennsylvania’s Asian Pacific Student Coalition is appalled by the racist and bigoted statements made by Penn Law Professor Amy Wax on December 20, 2021 during an interview with Brown University Professor Glenn Loury. By saying “the United States is better off with fewer Asians and less Asian immigration” and referring to the “Asian elite,” Wax continues to perpetuate harmful stereotypes that not only inflict pain upon Asian Americans but also other minorities. Her comments have national ramifications, feeding into a xenophobic narrative, coming after a year of rise in Asian hate crimes. We are outraged, hurt, and ashamed to be associated with the same institution. This incident is neither the first time Wax has made racist comments, nor is it the first time her degrading comments have sparked outrage. It is disheartening to see Wax’s comments in the news again, and we wholeheartedly condemn such rhetoric. 

    Penn Law Dean Ruger has called Wax’s comments “anti-intellectual and racist” and says the situation “deepens our commitment to support our community as we continue to work to advance equity and inclusion.” However, Penn has continually failed to meet the needs of minority groups on campus. As the Pan-Asian American Community House (PAACH), Makuu: The Black Cultural Center, and La Casa Latina remain confined to the small basement of one building, as PAACH remains over two years without an Associate Director, and as the Asian American Studies Program remains a non-major (only minor), the University has continued to neglect its students and the community it claims to serve. 

    Wax, her comments, and the University’s response thus far serve as a reminder that while much may be said, equity and inclusion missions reaffirmed, and condolences given, Penn takes little action in truly bettering the lives of its students. We will not stand by this artifice from Penn as they tout to help minority students while harboring actions and thoughts that actively try to dismantle such communities. Echoing the demands of students, Penn must launch a transparent investigation into Wax’s employment within the University. We call on President Amy Gutmann, Interim Provost Beth Winkelstein, and the Board of Trustees to live up to their commitments of creating an inclusive and diverse community. We call for them to unequivocally support our communities so that when people like Wax verbalize and perpetuate hatred, there is no question of whether it is an isolated incident or a reflection of the University’s faculty and administration as a whole.

    Asian Pacific Student Coalition

    University of Pennsylvania

    Jeffrey Yu, Chair

    Justin Chan, Vice Chair

    Taryn Flaherty, Vice Chair of Political Affairs

    Michael Li, Vice Chair of Communications

    Ashley Uppani, Vice Chair of External Affairs

    Skyler Cheung, Vice Chair of Finance

    Caleb Yam, Vice Chair of Constituent Affairs