Source: UF at Work
While the Asian Faculty and Staff Association, or AFSA, is not new to the University of Florida, engagement within the association has waned over the years. By the time the pandemic started in 2020, the AFSA was no longer active. The pandemic, however, reminded former members why an association like the AFSA is important for the UF community.
The number of anti-Asian hate crimes in the United States increased by 77% from 2019 to 2020, and more than 9,000 anti-Asian incidents were reported between March 2020 and June 2021. An Atlanta shooting that killed eight people, six of them women of Asian descent, prompted UF administrators and academic units to issue statements condemning racism against the Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.
In January 2021, four women representing UF’s Asian faculty and staff came together seeking to not only revive the AFSA but to build upon its foundation.
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