The 17th annual Korean American Students Conference (KASCON) will be hosted at Cornell University, March 13-16.

For three days, students from across the country and around the world will gather on the Cornell campus, joining with political leaders, community activists and successful professionals to discuss issues pertaining to government, human rights, business, academia, the fine arts and the media.

KASCON is an annual gathering of undergraduate students from across the United States. Founded in 1986 at Princeton University, it has grown into a national institution and the oldest and largest ethnic student conference in America. Over the past 16 years, more than 10,000 students representing more than 200 colleges and universities across North America have attended KASCON. It also has attracted over 600 distinguished community leaders, scholars and professors as speakers and active participants. This will be the first time that the conference is being hosted entirely on a college campus.

KASCON XVII is being organized and managed entirely by Cornell students, who underwent a rigorous election process last spring to win the opportunity to host the conference on their campus for this year. The elected members of planning committee include the following Cornell student leaders: Elizabeth Cho J.D. '04, Jason Choi '03, Erin Chu '03, Christopher Hur '05, Justin Jang '06, Daniel Keh '03, John Keh '05, Angie Kim '03, Jiaeh Kim '04, Daniel D. Lee '03 and Moses Song '05.

The Mirae Foundation is the parent organization of KASCON and serves as the advisory board for the conference. The nonprofit, nonpartisan foundation was formed in 1991 by early organizers of KASCON to oversee the yearlong planning process for each conference.

KASCON XVII is sponsored in part by Cornell's Student Assembly Finance Commission and is open to the Cornell community. However, to be a formal registrant, each person must register online at . Organizers expect 500 people to attend the conference.This year, KASCON commemorates the centennial of the first Korean immigration to the United States as reflected in its theme, "Inspiring Progress for the Next 100 Years." The programming includes, among other events, over 20 interactive workshops and seminars, a career fair, a Korean American exposition including a centennial celebration, a banquet, live entertainment and film screenings.

Among the scheduled speakers for the conference are: Alan J. Cohen, mayor of Ithaca; Susan H. Murphy, Cornell vice president for student and academic services; Bruce Cumings, professor of history at the University of Chicago; and Juju Chang, correspondent for ABC News network's "20/20."

Registrants will be housed in area hotels and bussed to the Cornell campus. Seminars will take place in buildings on the Arts Quad, and larger events will be held in Bailey Hall and Barton Hall. In addition, Cornell Cinema will host a Korean Film Festival during the conference.

Seminar topics include issues involving: North Korea, World War II comfort women, global sex-trafficking, Korean American adoptees, race relations, social activism, enclave communities, the centennial, identity, generational gaps and career/leadership workshops.

Members of the Korean and Korean American community, including small and multinational corporations, nonprofit organizations, local businesses and news networks, have contributed to the $100,000-plus budget for the conference. Among the conference sponsors are: Cornell, the Centennial Committee of Korean Immigration, Cheil Communication, Samsung, Accenture and The Korea Times . In addition, local businesses have donated special meal discounts and services to the registrants.

For more information, visit , e-mail kascon@cornell.edu or call Angie L. Kim at (607) 351-0953.