Spartan Daily - Serving San Jose State University since 1934

Issue date: 11/19/08 Section: Student Culture

Media Credit: Stefan Armijo (Left to right) Eddie Hermano, treasurer, Jannel Rossellon, member, Marissa Ferrer, KAAMP coordinator, Kevin Irabagon, social chair and Beverly Mationg, member, table outside the student union and promote upcoming events for Akbayan, the Filipino American Organization on Tuesday.

This is Ingrid Mapanao's first semester at SJSU and her first time being exposed to Filipino culture, and she said she finally feels at home.

Since joining Akbayan Pilipino club, the undeclared freshman said she is having fun meeting other people of Filipino decent and learning about her background.

"Before joining this club, I knew nothing about my own culture," she said.

Akbayan, meaning "embracing in friendship," began in 1976 as a social group on campus and has developed into an organization centered on community, cultural and political ideals, said the organization's community affairs coordinator Danreb Victorio.

As stated in a pamphlet, the goal of the organization is to "increase knowledge of the Filipino and Filipino-American culture and share the beauty of the heritage."

Inspired by other on-campus cultural clubs, Akbayan strives to incorporate Filipino culture into everyday life, according to its Web site.

"It is easy to see that we are all about spreading diversity and teaching everyone, regardless of their background, about our culture and customs," said Akbayan's vice president Stephen Dominguez.

Each semester, Akbayan organizes several events designed to celebrate its heritage.

Earlier this month, Akbayan hosted an event called "Raising Awareness Amongst Filipinos," an event that focused on teaching 220 high school students the different aspects of Filipino culture with the theme of "Save your culture, save your world."

"(Raising Awareness Amongst Filipinos) was very successful this year because the local high schools do not have strong Filipino clubs," Victorio said.

Dominguez, a junior biological science major, said the organization plans to become more politically oriented and more involved in the community next semester.

Continued...

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