Back to School KASA Staff 2017–2018 Memo

Tim Kim
Tim Kim
Aug 22, 2017 · 5 min read

Hi Staff! The school year is upon us!

I find myself super curious about what everyone has been up to this summer. What kind of work/leisure you’ve been doing, what kind of things you’ve been learning about yourself and your passions, etc. I’m looking forward to catching up with you all!

1.

I wanted to share a quick thought I had while hanging out with my friend at UCI this past Saturday at 10pm. I walked around the bustling plaza and looked out at the thirty or so green tables set up under a canopy of lightly glowing patio lights. The weather was perfect and it made me happy to look out and hear so much laughter and conversation going on at each and every table.

I began to analyze the scene. Of the fifteen or so different groups, about five of them looked like families. The other ten groups must have been friends.

I asked myself a very simple question, but it’s a question that is surprisingly not frequently asked.

Where did these friends (the ten non-family groups) meet? What is the story behind the five of them sitting around a table together on a warm summer evening?

I think the answer is: Institutions. Institutions. Institutions. (Sorry to throw the sociology around.)

They didn’t just walk up to each other on the sidewalk and proceed to ask each other to hangout.

Theodore Zeldin wrote, “People want to meet each other. They just need a third person to help them do it.”

That third person, universally, is the institution/community/club/church etc.

I challenge you to try to find friends without the help of some institution. It’s actually just about impossible.

2.

Following this line of thinking, it becomes clear to me what KASA is. KASA is that third person. It’s an institution. It’s where people come to meet other people. It’s a relatively recognizable brand, and a place that you come to have fun and mingle with new folks. We are facilitators. We are, to use a somewhat cheesy yet interesting term, ‘social architects.’

Personally, my vision for this year is to leverage KASA’s brand to create a bi-monthly gathering at a warm apartment on Friday nights. As an upperclassmen, I’ve had the pleasure of attending ‘salons’ that my older friends were hosting. Basically, fifteen or people gather and each go around sharing something they’ve been working on, pondering, or learning about. The conversation is always so good. My vision is to provide that for others because from what I’ve seen, so many people are looking for alternative ways to have fun, and more meaningful ways to connect. Salon’s are how Benjamin Franklin, Simone Beauvoir, my ISF100 professor, and my parents spend their Friday nights. I think they were all on to something. Good conversation, new ideas, flirtation, fresh music, and enough wine is bliss after a long week of working hard. I’ve enjoyed facilitating that for my friends and others the last two years, and hope to do so for more this year! :)

3.

The fact that Korean-American serving and Asian-American serving communities/institutions continue to thrive indicates to me that we are meeting a compelling need. On this campus of 30,000, look around and try to find other clubs that draw in 150+ members per semester (retention is another matter of course). There are less than 10! Seriously! We need to be proud of this. But also really examine, why is this so?!…

4.

The memo hasn’t really been going around in this purportedly ‘post racial’ era, but let me let you in on a social reality: ALL human experience is ethnic. Identity and belonging is complicated for anyone in America right now. It’s not just a ‘minority’ experience. Jews hang out with the Jews (largely). White folks hang out with white folks (largely)(note that they have the unique privilege of appearing to not be doing so). Asian Americans hang out with Asian Americans. (largely) Asian nationals (more rudely called ‘FOBs’) hang out with Asian nationals. (largely) Black people hang out with black people. (largely) Most of course hope to one day be ‘colorblind’ (or some of us), but we recognize that cultural differences and cultural conflict is still real and therefore it does us well to have, amongst the usually two or three others, at least one ‘ethnic’ circle of friends. This is debatable of course, I would love to discuss.

5.

I submit to you that Asian-Americans/Korean-Americans continue to need a unique space to hang out. And that KASA is one of the main architects of this space.

To explain my rational behind that preceding statement, let’s consider a few different kinds of spaces on campus and how they are selective and exclusive in their own ways. The White-serving Greek row is not amiable to non-Whites (not all and to an extent). The Church is often off-putting to the non-religious. (side note, churches are one of the most successful social clubs in the world. I think most people migrate to one of these churches at some point or another because they have certain cultural practices that are more closely aligned with the reality of how humans make deep relationships, and human social happiness more generally) Business fraternities won’t take you unless you are interested in business and above an arbitrary GPA cutoff. So imagine , where does the individual that is not White, religious, or interested in business- go to hang out and find community?….

A related, but more general question- do you believe American society is growing increasingly anomic? By that I mean, is loneliness as a social phenomenon growing more frequent and severe due to structural changes? And what role do communities like KASA, Superb, Daily Cal, GracePoint, Sigmas, Blueprint, and Berkeley Project play in addressing and preventing that anomie? And how are each of these communities different, and which are better designed for effective human relationship building? How are they responding to different features of the social landscape? Which communities garner the most status and prestige on campus, and why is that so? Is this status hierarchy equitable and well deserved, or are politics at play?

6.

KASA, like every other club in the larger Berkeley microcosm has niche. I believe our niche is serving the Korean-American/Asian-American (non-white), middle class, underclassmen, and upperclassmen community. We are not focused on deep connections and 100% compatibility between all our members. If we wanted to do that, we would brand ourselves as Korean-American artists, or Korean-american musicians, or businessmen, etc. The more specific you get with your brand, the more conformity within the member pool. Instead, KASA is about enjoying a wide variety of people, and that moment of surprise when you do end up walking away each semester with two or three new good friends. KASA is an institution with a wide net that catches a variety of fish, as opposed to a very specific type of lure.

7.

If you have made it this far, you deserve a prize. I will buy you coffee lol

8.

Thank you everyone for buying into KASA’s vision and giving the position of ‘social architect’ a go. I know some of you are new to this and it will be a bit of a stretch. But every single person on staff was selected because their personality was unique and in our opinion, particularly suited to hosting and leading a family. The charisma on this staff is real! Your community is lucky to have you! Seriously.

The first thing on the agenda is staff retreat. Get pumped! I’m looking forward to more great conversations and beautiful hikes!

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    Tim Kim

    Written by

    Tim Kim

    senior at UC Berkeley | studying Sociology | working at 180Snacks Manufacturing | from Orange County CA | www.bytimkim.tumblr.com | www.bytimkim.com