The Thomas Tam Scholarship is funded by an endowment established by the City University of New York in recognition of Dr. Thomas Tam’s contributions as a former member of the CUNY Board of Trustees, founding Executive Director of the Asian American / Asian Research Institute, and leadership in the Asian American community. The Scholarship awards $1,000 to an individual qualified undergraduate student that is currently enrolled at any of the twenty-one colleges within CUNY, Asian or non-Asian, who has demonstrated creativity in the communication of the concerns of the Asian American community in areas such as health, education, culture, media or advocacy/activism.
2024 Scholarship Recipient
Cynthia Leung (Brooklyn College)
Project: AAPI Public Safety Narrative Change
For her project, Cynthia Leung, a recent graduate in American Studies from Brooklyn College, explored the complex relationship between Asian American communities and public safety, particularly focusing on the experiences and perspectives of Chinese Americans regarding the police and criminal justice system. Despite a general distrust of the police, many in the community still view law enforcement as the default option for addressing crime, reflecting a paradox of relying on an institution that failed to provide a sense of safety. In response to a political messaging presentation that excluded Asian voters while interning at the New York City Council, the Vera Institute launched a groundbreaking survey to gather insights on East Asian perspectives regarding public safety, marking the first research effort of its kind by the organization.
Cynthia will examine the impact of rising violence against Asian Americans during the Covid-19 pandemic, collecting data from a diverse range of sources, including senior centers and prison abolition groups. In Chinatown, events were organized to engage with the elderly community in Cantonese, discussing their views on government funding for policing. The findings challenged political narratives that promoted tough-on-crime policies and called for a broader conversation around safety. This project aims to facilitate town halls to engage Asian American communities in reimagining new models of community safety that do not rely on police, promoting a more inclusive and comprehensive approach to public safety.
Application Guidelines
2024 Scholarship Online Application Form
All currently enrolled CUNY undergraduate students are eligible to apply for the Thomas Tam Scholarship.
Display of communication of the concerns of the Asian American community can be in the form of written reports, film, video, new media techniques, and the development of performances or materials in the arts and sciences.
The following are the issues to be addressed in your application for the Tam Scholarship. Please be sure to cover all of the points in your application.
- Please describe your project in detail, be sure to tell us about the issue of concern to the Asian American community that the project is designed to address.
- Please explain how your project demonstrates creativity in communicating the concerns of Asian Americans in areas such as health, education, culture, media and advocacy.
- What are the objectives or goals of the project, i.e. what do you want to accomplish, or what impact or effect will it have? How will you know that it has been successful?
- How was the project implemented, or if in progress or a future project, please describe how it will be implemented?
- Is the project completed, is it in progress or is it a future project? (Note: Uncompleted/future projects will only receive partial scholarship award until they are completed.)
Please submit your application using the form below by Fri, Dec 6, 2024. If your pdf or zip file exceeds 5 MB, you can use file hosting services such as WeTransfer (wetransfer.com) and email it to info@aaari.info. In the email subject header, type “2024 Tam Scholarship Submission.”
Scholarship Committee: Ellen Lai, Lili Shi & Pearl Tam
Coordinator: William Tam
