Recent graduate honors heritage by donating Living Our Values Award funds to Southeast Asian Archive

Andy Nguyen Le was one of 11 individuals selected for the 2014 Living Our Values Award, which honors UC Irvine faculty, staff and students whose actions best embody the university’s values of respect, intellectual curiosity, integrity, commitment, empathy, appreciation and fun. A perk that comes with the award is the opportunity to direct accompanying funds toward a campus program or unit of the honoree’s choice. Le, a 2014 graduate in criminology, law & society, chose to donate his $1,000 prize to the UCI Libraries’ Southeast Asian Archive. “As a recent first-generation Vietnamese American college graduate, the Southeast Asian Archive was a powerful foundation to my student activism and understanding of the Southeast Asian refugee experience,” he said. “I am honored to make a contribution to a transformative space that has empowered multiple generations to reclaim Southeast Asian voices and stories that still remain forgotten in chapters of America’s history.” Le co-founded the  Southeast Asian Student Association in 2012. In its first year, his organization won the Anteater Award for “most promising new group.” Le interned at the Student Outreach & Retention Center, where he developed and facilitated a new leadership class called “Southeast Asian Retention Through Creating History” during the winter and spring of 2014. In his senior year, Le met regularly with Thuy Vo Dang, archivist for the Southeast Asian Archive, and brought SASA and leadership class groups through for orientation, tours and instruction. His efforts culminated in a short promotional video he created about the importance of the Southeast Asian Archive as a resource for students and the community at large. Le hopes his $1,000 gift inspires others to support the archive as well. “I welcome current and future Southeast Asian undergraduates to continue the movement in their hearts and become the forefront of our resilient diaspora communities,” he said.