There has been only one sustained project involving direct collaboration between national Asian American fraternities and sororities. That project, born out of a partnership between advocacy group APIA (Asian Pacific Islander American) Vote and the National APIA PanhellenicAssociation (NAPA), is Project Five Percent.The project aims to highlight APIA issues in national politics by registering APIA youth to vote. The hope is that higher Asian American voter turnout would sway candidates to cater to the issues of our community.
Pi Delta Psi has consistently been at the forefront of this project, and youth civic engagement efforts in general. In 2008, Pi Delta Psi brothers held three of the eight positions in Project Five Percent’s National Planning Board, including that of Board Director. In July of 2012, four youth leaders representing the Asian American collegiate community spoke at the APIA Presidential Town hall in front of thousands of community leaders and members of Congress; of the four, two are Pi Delta Psi brothers. Brothers William Xu from the Rochester Institute of Technology represented NAPA, and Vigor Lam from Ohio State University represented the Midwest Asian American Student Union.
Such accomplishments are evidence of Pi Delta Psi’s unparalleled commitment to cultural excellence. Our organization recognizes that Asian American awareness must go beyond campus organizing, to community organizing. It also means educating brothers on issues like how Asian Americans are least likely of all minorities to vote, and to actively address such issues through the passion and commitment of the membership. It is through such efforts that our brothers develop organizational and leadership skills. It is with these initiatives that we create our identity as a brotherhood.