[Above: VASCON 3 Slideshow]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 4, 2009
CONTACT
VASCON Communications
vascon.communication@gmail.com
www.vasconlove.org
Vietnamese American Student Conference Bids Farewell
Washington, D.C. – Today, the board of the Vietnamese American Student Conference (VASCON) announces that the annual event will no longer convene, but are discussing plans to assemble a similar event with narrower creative focus this coming June in New York City.
Last year on this very day, the board held its fourth annual conference for the first time outside of Austin, TX –where VASCON was founded—at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Over 250 students from 30 colleges and universities from across the nation gathered to dialogue and discuss practical solutions to the most pressing issues and events related to the Vietnamese American community. Every year, the conference assembles renowned experts in fields such as human rights, community organizing, politics, business, film, arts and entertainment to engage youth over the course of an inspiring, transformational three days.
“I have experienced few things more beautiful than VASCON,” says founder and previous executive director Kym Pham. “Knowing that this is the end of the road for this incredible journey proves to be bittersweet. However, what lives on is the change brought about by the individuals who were touched by this conference. I have witnessed and believe in the beauty of the mark they are each leaving on the world, the first and foremost of which belong to the passionate and dedicated young leaders part of the VASCON board. VASCON has an unbelievably special place in the hearts of many, and so does the VASCON family.”
Since its conception in 2004, VASCON built tremendous momentum, moving from a conference of a little less than 200 students to over 1000 over the four years it convened. Pham attributes much of VASCON’s development to the foundation set by sister conferences KASCON (Korean American Student Conference) and NAASCON (National Asian American Student Conference), and continues to be deeply grateful to the continuous support of uNAVSA (Union of North American Vietnamese Student Associations), VIA-1 (Vietnamese Interacting as One), and VANG (Vietnamese American National Gala), all of which encouraged one another to improve and inspire the state of the community.
In VASCON’s fourth year, Pham joined the advisory board and transitioned the role of executive director to Xuan Le. “I was honored to serve as executive director of VASCON in its fourth and final year,” says Le. “This was one of the first conferences focused on Vietnamese Americans to come to the mid-Atlantic region and that allowed us to reach out to many new students and working professionals. I want to extend endless gratitude to everyone who helped to make VASCON a success each and every year. It was a true privilege to work with individuals who gave their whole hearts and sacrificed so much of themselves to make this a reality.”
The new, yet-to-be-named event potentially taking place this summer plans to partner up with Kollaboration New York on the weekend of June 27th. Its out-of-the-box programming will follow a series of quick-fire talks and performances by accomplished Vietnamese American architects, fashion designers, writers, musicians, among other creative thinkers in the New York scene. Similar to Kollaboration in its support of the Asian American artist community, the event hopes to encourage, inspire, and challenge individuals to pursue their dreams in the creative arena, by connecting them to those who are already doing so. If interested in helping, please email: kym@kollaboration.org .
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Past sponsors of VASCON include: Beyond Bouquets, Boat People SOS, Catholic University of America, Chaos Theory Music, Lee’s Sandwiches, National Congress of Vietnamese Americans, SBTN, Storyline Designs, VATV, and the Vietnamese Professional Society, Wells Fargo, alongside numerous other small businesses, private donors, student and community organizations.
VASCON is an annual conference co-founded in 2004 by students at the University of Texas at Austin and Yale University, which has since gathered over 1,000 students and young professionals to engage in open dialogue about the state of Vietnamese America with distinguished guests from a spectrum of disciplines.
