Lawrenceville Celebrates 2024 AAPI Month

This month, Lawrentians are taking time to reflect and celebrate the contributions and achievements of individuals with Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander heritage. The School’s Office of Multicultural Affairs has facilitated several events over the past two weeks to celebrate the histories and cultures of these groups through discussion, art, and cuisine.

Celebrations kicked off with the School’s International Night, an opportunity for a number of student groups – including those with AAPI affiliation/interests - to showcase aspects of various cultures through food and performances. Yesterday, the Pan-Asian Alliance (PAA), in collaboration with the Lunch and Dialogue club, led a discussion about AAPI culture after watching “Returning to Chinatown” from the show “Broken Bread.” Attendees enjoyed a delicious menu, which included samosas and dumplings. PAA celebrates, represents, and informs about all cultures and peoples of Asia and strives to eliminate negative stereotypes about Asian people.

On May 14, Lawrenceville’s student-led Tea Club hosted a “The Craft of Matcha” tea evening at the Bunn Library, led by the owner of Ooika Matcha, a nearby teahouse. Tea Club Co-Presidents Gwyneth Deng and Aki Li (Fourth Formers who reside in China and Japan, respectively) wanted to share their love of both tea and desserts with the School community.

 Li said, “We decided to celebrate Asian cultures through the mediums of food and tea because the heart is inexplicably tied to the stomach, and tastes and scents offer glimpses into the cultures we love better than anything. Tea is the taste of home condensed into one cup: through tea, one can imagine the lush green hills of China or quaint tea farms of Japan without even leaving campus. Tea is central to many Asian cultures as a common joy loved by all.”

According to Li, the Tea Club was excited to invite a local expert to campus to educate students about matcha, which she called “a flagship Japanese tea.”

“The tea master, Mr. Mark, did a great job presenting and answering questions,” said Li. “We learned that the majority of matcha is fake, as well as different methods to grow matcha, varied types of matcha cultivars, and the history of matcha tea schools. I hope students have a greater understanding of Japanese tea culture after this event.”

Throughout the year, the Tea Club has hosted multiple all-School events celebrating Chinese, Japanese, and Thai culture. According to Chinese language educator and Tea Club faculty advisor Yanhong Zhang, the group “aims to have the community explore the tea culture in not just Asia but all over the world, enjoy diverse tastes of tea, and embrace relaxing moments while drinking tea.”

Deng ‘25 added, “When we talk about culture, we often think of grandeur and intangible ideas that may seem too serious and not very interesting to approach. By simply letting members in the community have some great tea, snacks, and time spent together, we wanted to break the restraint of culture under just a formal setting and show that culture can be experienced and enjoyed through easy and fun activities.”

For additional information, contact Lisa M. Gillard H'17, director of public relations, at lgillard@lawrenceville.org.