Just beyond the decorated arches and rows of small family-owned retail shops that have become synonymous with New York's Chinatown, a crowd of Cornellians and friends gathered Jan. 22 for the 20th annual Cornell Asian Alumni Association's New Year's Banquet at the Grand Harmony Palace.

The annual event attracted more than 350 people, mostly Cornell alumni living in the metropolitan area; a number of Cornell deans, vice presidents, trustees and directors; as well as State University of New York Chancellor Nancy Zimpher; Robert S. Harrison '76, CEO of the Clinton Global Initiative and chair of Cornell's Board of Trustees executive committee; and trustee and Pulitzer Prize winner Sheryl WuDunn '81 (accompanied by her husband, Nicholas Kristof, senior writer and national correspondent for The New York Times).

This year's annual banquet honored Roderick Chu, MBA '71, vice chair of the Cornell University Council, and announced its 48th, 49th and 50th scholarships. The event also raised more than $60,000. Some of the funds will be used to develop a Pan-Asian garden at Cornell Plantations to be located adjacent to the Ten Eyck classroom in the recently completed Brian C. Nevin Welcome Center. The garden will include elements of the great landscape design traditions from China, Japan and Korea. It is intended to be a contemplative and stroll garden, providing a pathway from the Nevin Welcome Center to the Nearing Summer House.

The Class of 1978 was the first Cornell class with more than 200 Asian students. This was "a tipping point," said Matthew Palumbo '83, marketing director for this year's CAAA banquet. Members of that graduating class were a large part of the driving force behind CAAA's founding in 1990 -- the first Asian alumni group in the Ivy League. "This group refused to take 'no' for an answer and created a legally independent, nonprofit corporation -- the Cornell Asian Alumni Association," Palumbo said.

Since then, the group's growth has mirrored the creation of Asian studies programs across the country (with the East Coast's first comprehensive Asian-American Studies Program starting at Cornell), the rising number of Asian students on campus and the influence of Asians at Cornell and around the globe. It's estimated that between 20 and 25 percent of the student body on the Ithaca campus is Asian-American or of Asian descent.

Chinese Scholar's Garden event July 9

CAAA's next big event is scheduled for Saturday, July 9, when CAAA, Cornell Plantations and The Cornell Club-New York City will sponsor a joint event at the Chinese Scholar's Garden at Snug Harbor on Staten Island. This is the only Chinese Scholar's Garden in the United States; it was brought over, brick-by-brick, from Suzhou, China.

The event included a 10-course Chinese meal, a traditional Chinese face change dance and Korean Pungmul drumming (by Shimtah, a Cornell student group).

In his acceptance talk, Chu talked about the importance of supporting education even in the worst of economic times and working hard to keep Americans competitive in a global market. Chu was New York's first Chinese-American commissioner of taxation and finance, was a partner at Arthur Andersen and chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents.

John Mikytuck '90 is a freelance writer in New York City.