“What Are AANAPISIs?”

Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs) represent an opportunity to bring awareness and elevate Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students in postsecondary education. Joining Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities as a Minority Serving Institution, AANAPISIs place AAPI students within the broader discourse of race, opportunity and equity. As organizational manifestations of AAPI student interest, AANAPISIs occupy a strained and limited position in current scholarship in part because AAPI student experiences and outcomes are ignored or rendered invisible. This is a result of a broader social context that essentializes, and marks AAPI populations as an unimportant consideration in the battle against social, economic, and political inequality. This series on the scholarship of AANAPISIs is an endeavor to spark new inquiry that expands our understanding of institutions focused on supporting AAPI students who live within a racial order that uses and fears their presence. Written by emerging and established scholars and institutional leaders, the four contributions in this series symbolize distinct perspectives, but collective attention toward the future of AANAPISI scholarship.