To the editor,
I was so glad to see an article reflecting on the history and many strong programs of the Asian American Center. But I was surprised that the piece didn’t mention Linell Yugawa, who led the AAC for more than three decades — spanning most of its history — and laid much of the groundwork for their programming and growth described before retiring in 2019.
The omission is particularly notable because the article explicitly traces the center’s evolution from its origins in 1983 to its current role as “a cornerstone of campus life.” Yugawa, who in her 30-plus years as director was the force behind many of the programs and approaches that continue to define AAC today, deserves mention in that history.
Many of the programs and milestones highlighted trace directly to Yugawa’s leadership. She founded the Peer Leader program, which is described as central to the AAC’s current mission. She championed the community-engaged programming that connects students with Boston’s Asian American communities, creating initiatives such as Discover Boston. She successfully advocated for the expansion that allowed Start House to be designated entirely for AAC programming — the very building celebrated in the piece. The Daily’s 2019 coverage of her retirement noted this structural change would have “significant, ongoing impacts on our campus.”
As a student at Tufts from 1988 to 1992, I witnessed Linell’s dedication to the center and its students firsthand. I found my peer advising group as a first year to be a much-needed outlet with people I might not have met otherwise. I later served as a peer leader for two years to provide that same support for incoming students. In that role, I met and mentored many students and saw how instrumental the program was — not just in helping students navigate their identity and find community, but also in developing leadership skills. I still keep in touch with some of my mentees, which speaks to how meaningful those connections were. The Peer Leader program is just one example of the many ways the center shaped my time at Tufts, and it is wonderful to see the program continuing to support students today.
Without mentioning Yugawa, current students reading about the center’s history won’t have the full picture of how it came to be. The current AAC staff and student interns are clearly doing excellent work, and it's heartening to see the center’s reach continuing to broaden. But their success builds on a foundation created through Yugawa’s decades of leadership, which was groundbreaking at the time. Her contributions deserve recognition.
Sincerely,
Julie Mak
Class of 1992
