The Eau Claire Hmong Heritage Month was established in 2012 by University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire student Mai Neng Vang, with support from Jodi Thesing-Ritter from the Dean of Students office, to promote an appreciation for and education of Hmong culture and history as a way of fostering cultural diversity on campus. Hmong Heritage Month was also initiated in an effort to strengthen the relationsh
ip between the University and the local Hmong community. Mai Neng and Jodi created a committee made up of students and staff members from different departments on campus (including: Housing, Affirmative Actions, Admissions, and Office of Multicultural Affairs) to coordinate events for Hmong Heritage Month. Appreciating the local Hmong culture and history is not only important for the local community (as a large population of Hmong Americans live in the surrounding areas), but also for encouraging future generations of Hmong and non-Hmong students in this region to learn about the complexities of Hmong cultural heritage. The story of the Hmong Diaspora and the inherent process of the Hmong to progressively adapt and incorporate new cultural traditions native to the lands in which the Hmong now call home must be acknowledged. In that process of acculturation, new hurdles present themselves to the current generation of hybridized Hmong Americans who neither feel Hmong nor American. This lack of concrete identity prevents Hmong Americans to truly have an academic identity that will propel them to higher levels of thinking and truly seeing themselves as a part of the campus community and not as an unwelcomed guest in their own home. It is the hope of the planning committee that the month of April will foster a renewed sense of identity for the Hmong students on campus, and help the non-Hmong allies see the value of cultural, social, and academic diversity at work. The committee also hopes that the events will encourage all those who attend to continue critical conversations about the challenges that the Hmong American communities continue to face in this country.
