“I really wanted to make sure my community had a voice at the national level where so many decisions are made.” appointment, as there are only about 4,000 political appointments ofered every administration, and they received hundreds of thousands of resumes,” she said. The initiative was frst established in 1999 by then-President Bill Clinton to improve the lives of Asian Americans and Pacifc Islanders. Succeeding presidents issued similar executive orders to re-establish the initiative and update its priorities. Biden’s initiative is the frst to explicitly recognize Native Hawaiians and the frst to be led by someone of Native Hawaiian descent. One issue Ka‘ai is passionate about in her new role is addressing anti-Asian hate crimes. In the past year, anti-Asian hate crimes have increasedmore than 330% across the country, Ka‘ai said. She recalled the Atlanta spa shootings on March 16, 2021, in which eight people, including six Asian women, were fatally shot at three separate Asian-run businesses. “It’s been extremely triggering and traumatizing for the Asian American community,” she said. “It’s a big priority that the Biden administration is working to address, knowing that we need to prioritize the safety of all Americans, including the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacifc Islander communities.” Ka‘ai said the administration also plans to look at broader systemic inequities that have long plagued the Asian American population. For example, more than 70% of Asian American adults are immigrants, many of whom speak limited English and require translations and language assistance when accessing federal resources, she said. The population is also the fastest-growing ethnic group in the U.S. with more than 24 million Asians and 1.6 million Native Hawaiians and Pacifc Islanders living in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Many Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacifc Islanders trace their roots to specifc countries or populations from Asia or the Pacifc region, yet a lot of federal data lumps all those groups together, Ka‘ai said. For this reason, “we are often not seeing the disparities that exist between specifc subpopulations in this group, which has beenextremely problematic throughout the pandemic,” she said. Ka‘ai encourages students to make the most of their time at Lehigh because they never know where it might take them. “I always encourage students to reach for the stars and make sure that you can put yourself on the right career path, make sure you have a plan to get there, but you shouldn’t see age as a barrier.” Ka‘ai has fond memories of Lehigh. “I truly believe that I would not be here today had it not been for my experience at LehighUniversity and taking that frst leap, leavingmy islandhome and getting out ofmy comfort zone to get towhere I amtoday.” L To learn more about LAAN and alumni affinity programs, visit alumni.lehigh.edu/laan. Lehigh recognizes the leadership and accomplishments of Lehigh women like Krystal Ka‘ai and the impact of coeducation through Soaring Together, a celebration marking 50 years since the admission of undergraduate women. Read more at lehigh.edu/soaringtogether. S UMM E R 2 0 2 2 | 2 9
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