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Rushika Fernandopulle ’89 called on attendees of a Saturday summit to advocate against Asian American hate in the wake of last week’s deportation of a Turkish graduate student at Tufts.

The summit, hosted by the Asian Leadership Initiative and the Asian American Foundation,

featured Daniel Bae Kim, Elaine Chao, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (IL), Joseph Y. Bae ’94, Sam Hyun, Spring 2025 IOP resident fellow Julie Su, and Julie Kim.

Fernandopulle, a graduate of Harvard College, Medical School, and Kennedy School, encouraged audience members to “keep speaking out” against hatred following the arrest of Tufts graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

“We need to keep speaking out and acting against any sort of hatred against Asian Americans, or really of anyone,” Fernandopulle said. “They come for one. They come for all.”

Despite the advancement and successes of Asian Americans, Fernandopulle noted that the climate of Asian hate “seems to be getting worse and not better” in the US in 2025.

“We should be incredibly proud of what we have accomplished,” Fernandopulle said. “But the road has not always been easy, and it is not easy today, we as Asian Americans have been easy targets, unfortunately, for hatred, discrimination and, too often, violence throughout American history.”

“Sadly, in 2025 the climate seems to be getting worse and not better,” he continued.

Bae, a member of the Harvard Corporation — the University’s top governing body — emphasized the importance of Asian American representation across professions. He specifically cited politics as a field in need of collective investment.

“This is not a partisan issue — it’s not about supporting Democrats and Republicans,” he said. “It’s about civic duty and getting the Asian community to think that this is a really valuable career path for a lot of young people in America.”

But Duckworth said that politics should not be the end goal for young people immediately out of college. Instead, the senator encouraged attendees to “do something else first and then come into politics.”

“That generally happens among the female politicians,” she said. “A lot of women in politics become politicians because we got really mad about something else, and then decided to advocate for those things.”

“What I think we need in politics in this country is more people with real world experiences,” she added. “That real world experience helps you be better at writing legislation and representing the people around the country.”

Chao, who served as the U.S. Secretary of Transportation in the first Trump administration, noted that involvement with politics often comes with consequences.

“Some of you may know that President Trump took potshots at me,” Chao said. “Although he said it wasn’t really at me, in that he was after my husband.”

Trump accused Chao and her husband, Sen. Mitch McConnell (KY), of having inappropriate ties to the Chinese government at the end of the first term — a characterization denounced by many as racist.

Kim, an actor, similarly commented on a resurgence of “blatant” racism within the past year.

“Blatant racism isn’t as much a thing as it is now as it was in the past,” Kim said. “Although in this last year, I would argue that that’s changed slightly.”

Kim highlighted that activism for the Asian American community does not have to come from the political sphere. He discussed his decision to leave the series Hawaii 5-0 due to pay discrepancies with his White colleagues as an important step in advocating for himself — and his children.

“The decision I was making would have ramifications not just for the people of my generation, but for generations to come,” he said. “If I chose not to say anything, at that time, I was doing a disservice to our community.”

“So many of us and so many of our parents suffer from this very same thing and stay quiet,” he added. “It’s just important that we walk the walk as well as talk the talk.”

—Staff writer Anneliese S. Mattox can be reached at anneliese.mattox@thecrimson.com.