BLACKSBURG, VA—Introductions fly back and forth as friends search for each other through the noisy auditorium. With over 800 students from over 90 colleges on the East Coast, the task is a bit difficult. But as soon as two friends find each other, they joyfully add to the crescendo of chatter.  These students will be spending three days at Dialogue, an event hosted every fall by a regional district within the Filipino Intercollegiate Networking Dialogue (FIND, Inc).

FIND, Inc. serves as a network to unify Filipino and Filipino American college students, offering them support and promoting the Filipino community and culture. Founded on April 11, 1992, the coalition of college students is divided into seven districts from Maine to Virginia.  Compared to the other six Districts, District 7 (D7) is the largest region in the entire network, encompassing five institutions of higher learning: Old Dominion University in Norfolk, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg.

District 7 has been a pioneer within the FIND, Inc. community in many ways.  It has sponsored “mini-Dialogues” within the five D7 schools as well as partnering with the Virginia Chapter of Student Action for Veterans Equity (SAVE-VA).  It has also sponsored fall Dialogues in the past as well as a spring Conference.  After fifteen years from the founding of FIND, Inc., this year's Dialogue held at Virginia Tech, Virginia from Friday, October 5^th until Sunday, October 7^th.

Fall Dialogue 2007 makes its mark not only in FIND, Inc. history, but Virginia Tech history as well.  Not only is it the furthest south a FIND, Inc. event has been before, but it is also the largest event to ever be hosted at Virginia Tech by an Asian organization.  With Asian student population of only 6.3%, Virginia Tech may appear less “diverse” than other schools within D7.  However, since the university boasts a student population of over 26,000, this means that there are well over 1,500 Asian or Asian American students at the institution, an exceptional critical mass for the community.  With the first Filipino international student arriving in 1955, Filipino students have since then been active in the multicultural communities in Virginia Tech.

The Filipino American Student Association (VT FASA) happens to be the oldest collegiate Filipino organization in the entire state of Virginia—despite the fact that it is not located in an area heavily populated by Filipinos.  Clarissa Fernandez, the Vice President of VT FASA and co-chair of Dialogue overseeing Image and Communications, notes, “Going into its 20^th anniversary in 2008, VT FASA exemplifies what is possible when students utilize resources outside of what is immediately available to them.”  Within Virginia itself, strong networks have been made between college organizations and local state groups such as the Filipino American National Historic Society of Hampton Roads. 

This culminates in a Fall Dialogue 2007 theme that emphasizes movement and action within the community: Pagtuturo, roughly translated as “the act of educating.”  The theatrical theme extends through the motto, “The world is our stage.  The world is our audience.  We are the actors.”  As the FIND, Inc. D7 Coordinator and Director of Fall Dialogue 2007, Brian Gerardo, remarks, “We’re taking history of FIND, Inc. and putting it into practice.”

One of the main goals of this year’s Dialogue is to implement a form of a Filipino American studies program within the Districts.  Within D7, the newly created “Standardizing Filipino American Studies” (SFAS) unites the five District schools through education.  Each month has its own fixed theme: September always focuses on Identity, October on History, eventually ending in April on Outreach.  By the end of an academic year, educators on campuses can tailor these flexible themes to the issues and concerns of their students.  VT FASA’s own education program is known as “Filipino Americans Welcoming Knowledge” (FAWK) and works in conjunction with FASA in organizing its Culture Night, its Filipino American Heritage Month (FAHM), and VT’s Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

This program is introduced on a larger regional scale as “Advancing Filipino American Studies” (AFAS).  The three workshops also focus on honing this knowledge.  The first workshop, “Meeting the Cast,” breaks the ice for the delegates and allows them to get to know each other as well as discussing each delegate’s interests in Filipino culture and history.  The second seminar, “Finding the Script” includes activities on finding and applying resources, with a special emphasis on using FAHM as the common denominator to network schools.  The final workshop, “The Rehearsal” gives students a chance to brainstorm on creating programs for certain scenarios, such as teaching Filipino WWII veteran history to an elementary school. 

Along with the workshops, the delegates also have the opportunity to listen to two keynote speakers.  The opening speaker, Sonia Aranza, is an award-winning Keynote Speaker and was recently named one of the “100 Most Influential Filipina Women” in America by Filipina Women’s Network.  The closing speaker, Francis Tanglao-Aguas, is a professor of Theatre at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and an award-winning playwright and director.  “I’m hoping to give [the delegates] insight,” says Professor Tanglao-Aguas, “and create a community and forge bonds with that community, because this is a wonderful thing we’re doing.”

Among other new things introduced at this year’s Dialogue is a Short Film Contest.  Based on the theme, students have the chance to “creatively express [their] ideas outside of National Dialogue workshops, and to promote Filipino education, leadership and service to the Filipino community at large.”  Winners will be announced on the Saturday evening of Dialogue.  The Short Film Contest illuminates another facet of the “drama” theme—film as well as theatre can be used as a medium for activism and change, and that a wide array of resources is readily available to students. 

As Clarissa Fernandex explains, “Pagtuturo aims more at showing the delegates what we have accomplished among our organizations and within our network and how to carry that to the next level.”  Most importantly, the Dialogue strives for a tangible goal in the creation of AFAS within other districts.  “The program has been given realistic milestones that will be evaluated on a bi-annual basis,” acknowledges Brian Gerardo. 

And so when these students part their ways back to their separate college, they have accomplished more than simply spending a weekend with friends.  They have been equipped with tools and resources, inspired by speakers and workshops, and motivated by new knowledge and deep respect for Filipino American activism.  After Fall Dialogue 2007, they are ready to act on their own stages before new audiences and tell their story. 

picture caption: Students from D7 gathered in Northern Virginia this summer for a car wash fundraiser. Even though D7 covers such a large region, the students tried their best to coordinate their schedules and meet together for the impromptu car wash.