Week 8-Thuong Nguyen, A01

This week I read, "Precariously Positioned: Asian American Women Students Negotiating Power in Academic Wonderland" by Leslie Do and Shannon Deloso. I found the article's perspective on leadership retreats very interesting, and would love to learn more about why they feel the way they do about these retreats. At UC Davis, SAFE puts on multiple retreats throughout the year- SEAR (South East Asian Retreat), APLIR (Asian Pacific Islander Leadership Retreat) and SEAYC (South East Asian Youth Conference). I also notice that every other org on campus have their own leadership retreats. What is really the purpose of these retreats? Do and Deloso describes them as a source to manipulate and distract students from the real issues. This really confuses me, because the retreats sole purpose is to educate student about their culture, and to shed light on issues that reflect being Asian American on the UC Davis campus. Is there perhaps a hidden motive? I have yet been to UC Davis's APLIR retreat, so I do not know the extent of what goes on, but I am curious to know how these events can trigger/influence student's minds. 

Here's what I do know. Often times, university oversimplifies problems, and gives us a false sense of resolution. The university provides us offers "safe" spaces for students on campus, leadership retreats, and cultural shows to make students feel as if all problems are resolved. It offers a sense of comfortality. This feeling however, is short-lived. Its temporary. As soon as they leave the college campus, they are again faced with levels of discrimination and racism. By then, its too late. Students have power in numbers. As soon as they leave the college campus, and reach the real word, it is hard to make connections to solve real issues. I do not think that leadership retreats are entirely bad. They offer students a like-minded community. I think it is important for students, after these retreats, to reflect upon the big picture. 


Question: How does leadership retreats affect student's mentality? 

References:

Đỗ, L. L & Deloso, S (n.d. ). Precariously Positioned: Asian American Women Students Negotiating Power in Academic Wonderland. Retried from Canvas downloaded pdf. November 7, 2017 

S. (2017). UC Davis South East Asian Retreat [Digital image]. Retrieved November 7, 2017, from http://srrc.ucdavis.edu/programs/safe/sea_retreat_2017.html