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| At Retirement, George Umezawa '70, Cal State L.A. alum and administrator who retired recently at the young age of 51, made it his life's goal to be part of the solution in the society in which he lives. Growing up in an era of both racism and activism in the United States, Umezawa had a vision to promote cultural understanding and social services in his community. During the 1960s, neither high school nor university curriculum addressed the history and cultural experiences of communities of color, says Umezawa. As a student at Cal State L.A. pursuing a bachelor's degree in Political Science/Public Administration, he joined the movement to establish Asian American studies on campus. Umezawa's efforts, and those of his peers, were instrumental in establishing the first Asian American studies class at Cal State L.A. in 1970. As a student leader, Umezawa also helped to develop the Cal State L.A. chapter of the Asian American Tutorial Project. A multicampus collaborative organized by Asian Pacific students from Cal State L.A., USC and UCLA, this project is now in its 30th year of tutoring non-English speaking children at Castelar Elementary School in Los Angeles' Chinatown. Demonstrating his college spirit, he was one of the original founding members of a Cal State L.A. social club for third generation Asian Americans and supporters. Umezawa feels strongly that his education has always been more than taking classes or reading books. In order to develop skills for success, he says, a student must actively apply his or her knowledge. He emphasizes that even such activities as coordinating college dances taught him planning and organizational techniques along with other creative management skills. "Whatever major or discipline you're in, you must get beyond the theoretical and be involved with something real....knowledge is refined through application, testing and failure. That's how my [leadership] journey began," he says. Umezawa's participation in campus groups eventually grew to include active involvement in the Asian Pacific community. Umezawa was interested in broadening the perspective of social services to include the Asian ethnic community in Los Angeles, a community that had up to that time been stereotyped as having "no problems." After graduating in 1970, Cal State L.A.-already one of the most culturally diverse universities in the nation-opened the door of opportunity for Umezawa. In 1972, Umezawa returned to his alma mater for post-graduate work. At the same time, he landed a part-time job as a student assistant in the Educational Participation in Communities (EPIC) office. EPIC, established at Cal State L.A. in 1966, coordinates student community service involvement. Through EPIC, student volunteers gain valuable paraprofessional experience and personal development in the urban community. Umezawa's duties as a student assistant ranged from coordinating orientations and field placements for student volunteers to planning new and innovative service projects on- and off-campus. Soon afterward, the EPIC director left and a search was conducted for a replacement. EPIC students, however, were convinced that they had the energy and expertise to lead the program themselves. They proposed that one of them be hired to fill the position and, after negotiations, Umezawa was selected. He served in that post for 20 years-from 1973 to 1996-except for a three-year hiatus when he was acting director for the University's Center for Student Life. Throughout his directorship, Umezawa helped to expand this student community service program into one of the largest and most respected service-learning programs in the CSU system. In 1996, Umezawa was appointed again to lead the Center for Student Life as acting director. In this role, he assumed the day-to-day responsibilities for Student Life, and oversaw much broader range of student services such as new student orientation, student clubs and organizations, student government advisement, four student resource centers, University programming, Campus Ministries and student publications, while continuing to direct EPIC. During his tenure in the Center for Student Life, Umezawa was responsible for launching the America Reads project at Cal State L.A. (a response to President Clinton's challenge to have every child in America reading at grade level by the year 2000). He also aided students in establishing the Pan African, Chicano/Latino and Asian Pacific American Resource Centers, and helped to create Cal State L.A.'s community service courses, which provides unit credits to students engaging in off-campus community service activities. Maintaining a leadership role in the community, Umezawa is currently a board member of the American Red Cross Blood Services and an advisory board member for Building Up L.A.-Americorps Project, a national service program initiated by EPIC in collaboration with other campuses and community-based partners. He is also a member of the Asian Pacific Community Research Roundtable, a multicampus regional association of colleges and universities serving the local Asian Pacific community. Current EPIC director Jorge Uranga, a former classmate and good friend of Umezawa, says, "George and I were student co-workers in EPIC in the 1970s, and he was already a leader and community activist then. When he became director of EPIC, he never lost his connection to the community or his belief that students should play an active role in making a difference in our communities." Uranga asserts that although his friend has retired from his Student Life administrator's position at Cal State L.A., Umezawa is not finished with his efforts to bring about "solutions" within the community and the University. Over the next four years, he will be part of Cal State L.A.'s W.K. Kellogg-funded Intercultural Proficiency Project (ICP) team, assisting faculty to develop curricula that will train college students and youth service professionals in the skills necessary for working with our nation's culturally diverse populations. Another program affiliated with the University will take Umezawa to Buenos Aires this coming fall. There, campus representatives from 19 U.S. universities will join other South American educational institutions in developing strategies to enable universities to provide more resources to their local communities. The major emphasis will be on university-community collaboration both nationally and internationally. Umezawa is still a little amazed when he looks back at his student and administrative leadership efforts: "It's really interesting. When you get involved in something, you don't always know where it will lead you. You discover new areas of interest and opportunities through your involvement that you would not have known otherwise. Who would ever have thought I would be going to South America and Asia as a result of my work in volunteerism and community service?" In the winter, Umezawa will be heading to South East Asia, to such regions as Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. He will be conducting research on Asian Pacific immigration throughout the Pacific Rim in order to draw parallels and differences among the Asian American immigration experiences as part of an academic project. Umezawa commented with enthusiasm, "Besides the fact that I always dreamt about traveling around the world, this project will be very meaningful to me personally because I will have an opportunity to visit Vietnam." "The Vietnam War had a profound impact on my life; it'll be an experience to learn about this country firsthand and meet its people as a friend and not as an enemy."
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