The Mid-Atlantic Union: 10 Years and Beyond
Crysta Tran, MAUVSA’s current President, asked me to give her a quick overview of MAUVSA’s history, to which I optimistically replied, “Sure!” What follows is an overview of MAUVSA’s conception and development, divided by year and grouped by season to showcase all notable events in MAUVSA history.
MAUVSA’s history is scattered across many mediums: Wordpress, Facebook, Instagram, memory cards, cell phones, and hard drives. As it becomes easier than ever to create memories, it gets harder and harder to look back.
-Stephen Nguyen
2006 — Fall “The Beginning”
- While searching for a better philanthropy for his own VSA to fundraise for in late August, Stephen Nguyen stumbles upon UVSA SoCal and UNAVSA on the internet. Kevin DC Nguyen and Stephen Nguyen then setup an AIM chat room joined by several curious leaders from other VSAs in the Mid-Atlantic region. Most notably in attendance was UVA VSA’s president Regina Mai Nguyen.
“Prior to this meeting interaction between our VSAs was informal infrequent and for most purposes competitive. The VSAs had a higher rate of turnover and failure and rebuilding cycles in which leadership would leave or a VSA would go dormant only to be picked up from square one by the next leader. MAUVSA changed the environment into one of continual growth of our VSAs as well as individuals leaders. — Stephen Nguyen
- October 14, 2006 — The first summit meeting of the VSA presidents and leaders at VCU. UNAVSA executives flew down to facilitate early brainstorming and organization within our region. Everyone’s first impression was, “What are we doing here?”
History: On September 26, 2006, Facebook was from exclusively to universities to the general public facilitating easier communication and awareness.
“Facebook in my opinion served as the medium on which our community was able to accelerate our growth and communication much faster than any previous generation had before.” — Stephen Nguyen
Later that fall:
- MAUVSA continues to hold monthly summits at different schools to establish our constitution and continue building connections between schools
2007 — Spring
- Kim Vu and Stephen Nguyen volunteer to represent the Mid-Atlantic Region to UNAVSA as Co-CoRR (Council of Regional Representatives)
- MAUVSA constitutional summits continue
- This spring saw a large uptick in friendly Culture Show visits and invitations from across the universities.
- MAUVSA constitutional summits continue(revising mission, structure, and networking)
- VCU hosts a regional Charity Ball to celebrate early collaboration and to collectively fundraise for the CPP Beneficiary, The Catalyst Foundation. $7,000 was raised.
Note: This was the precursor to MAUVSA Advance Conference MAC which would not happen for another 4 years)
2007 — Summer “MAUVSA Established”
- July 21, 2007 Constitution officially ratified by the standing VSA presidents at the time.
- ELECTION: First MAUVSA Eboard is elected.
President Mai Nguyen, Internal Vice President Linda Ha, External Vice President Pha-Le Le, Treasurer Long Nguyen, Secretary Julie Ha
- July 26–29, 2007 MAUVSA delegation and board travels to UNAVSA in New Orleans for the first time as a new region.
2007— Fall “Our mission is set, Lion is ready to roar”
October 21, 2007 summit. The biggest debates were the clarification of MAUVSA’s mission statement and design of our organization’s logo.
Mission Statement:
MAUVSA seeks to unify the Vietnamese American community, facilitate communication and cooperation among the various schools, empower and develop young leaders, foster cultural awareness and education, and promote social justice.
MAUVSA votes on it’s first official logo, designed by Julie Ha (now Mrs. Julie Shek)
Special note: The lion came from the mispronunciation of our name as MAUVASA which sounded like Mufasa from the Lion King. However, the lion is also a symbol of strength and pride, and a pack of lions is called a pride. This logo choice was tongue in cheek and was met with some eye rolling until a logo re-election was held in 2011. [See 2011 section for logo update]
2008 — Spring
MAUVSA holds first 1 day regional retreat for all VSA members in the region at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VT)
Note: This was the precursor to MAUVSA Advance Conference (MAC) which would not happen for another 4 years)
- April 4th-5th — VASCON4, Planting Seeds, hosted at Georgetown University in Washington D.C
2008 — Summer
Stock Market Crash of 2008 throws US economy in turmoil. Housing prices implode and jobless rates increase dramatically.
- MAUVSA holds 1st Charity Ball on June 7, 2008 in Maryland to support of UNAVSA’s CPP’s, VOICE
- ELECTION: 2nd MAUVSA Executive board elected
President Long Nguyen, Internal Vice President Stephen Nguyen, External Vice President Anhnie Nguyen, Treasurer Nam Nguyen, Secretary Hoainam Nguyen, Historian Sandra Vuong, Alumni Association Chair Diana Nguyen
2008 — Fall
Barack Obama is Elected President of the United States of America. Obama won 52.9 percent of the popular vote to McCain’s 45.7 percent.
Monthly summits continue
What is a Monthly Leadership Summit?
The primary activity for MAUVSA is a series of monthly leadership summits. Each summit provides the opportunity for students to exchange information, establish relationships, evaluate activities, and coordinate programs at the campus level. The summit series also provides a forum for student leaders to discuss common organizational challenges such as membership recruitment, membership retention, conflict resolution, and project management.
2009 — Spring
MAUVSA’s 2nd Annual Members Retreat hosted at Virginia Commonwealth University in January 2009.
ELECTION: 3rd MAUVSA executive board election.
President Long Nguyen, Internal Vice President Nam Nguyen, External Vice President Anhnie Nguyen, Alumni Association Chair Hoainam Nguyen
2009 — Summer
- ELECTION: 3rd MAUVSA Executive board Long Nguyen elected President
President Long Nguyen, Internal Vice President Nam Nguyen, External Vice President Lan-Anh Nguyen, Treasurer unfilled, Secretary unfilled ,Alumni Association Chair Hoainam Nguyen
2009 — Fall
Monthly summits continue
2010— Spring
MAUVSA’s 3rd Annual Retreat hosted at George Mason University
2010 — Summer
- MAUVSA hosts the 7th Annual UNAVSA Conference, “Uncommon Power for the Common Voice” from July 29-August 1, 2010 in Crystal City, Arlington, VA.
This conference is notable for having the record for the most registrants and attendees to date (2016).
- Long Nguyen and Anhnie Nguyen become the first member of MAUVSA elected to UNAVSA’s Board
- ELECTION: 4th MAUVSA Executive board elected.
President Nam Nguyen, Internal Vice President My-Ha Moon, External Vice President Stephen Nguyen, Treasurer Christina Duong, Secretary Kathe Tran, Alumni Association Chair Mai Nguyen, Historian Long Nguyen, Webmaster Jason Kuo
2010 — Fall
Monthly summits continue
2011 — Spring
MAUVSA hosts it’s 4th Annual Retreat at University of Virginia
2011-Summer
- ELECTION: 5th MAUVSA Executive board Stephen Nguyen — President, Tuan Duong — EVP, Vicky Nguyen — IVP(resigned), Tin Nguyen — Treasurer, Michael Ngo — Secretary, Alida Huynh, Christina Duong
President Stephen Nguyen, Internal Vice President Vicky Nguyen(resigned), External Vice President Tuan Duong, Treasurer Tin Nguyen, Secretary Michael Ngo, Alumni Association Christina Duong, Historian unfilled, Webmaster Alida Huynh, Advisors Hoainam Nguyen, Linda Ha Long Nguyen, and Regina Mai Nguyen
Notable Stephen Nguyen speech quote during elections: “Why retreat when we can advance!” This becomes starting point for rebranding and creation of MAUVSA’s Advance Conference (MAC).
- MAUVSA’s 4th Gala, Letters to our Future ask members to write letters to the future 5 years from now.
- MAUVSA as a region raised the most funds for UNAVSA’s CPP raising~12,000 dollars for the CPP Beneficiary Blue Dragon’s Children’s Foundation.
- MAUVSA Attends UNAVSA-8 in Denver, Colorado
This Mailbox full of memories and letters is currently lost. please email MAUVSA if you know of it’s whereabouts
Noteworthy: The late Nguyen Ngoc Bich (above), a renowned community leader who worked closely with MAUVSA in 2011, contributed a video to the Letters to our Future Campaign. He passed in 2016 of a heart attack while in the Philippines speaking on the independence of the South East Asian Seas.
2011 — Fall
At a summit hosted at UVA a logo contest was held and a new logo was chosen. Designed by My-Ha Moon the New Logo symboplized the DMV’s crossing highways and issued a star representing the founding schools. It was later revised by Stephen Nguyen.
“MA ALL DAY” T-shirts first printed (special credit to Tuan Duong for designing, printing, and creating these)
MAUVSA increases efforts for external outreach and community building. MAUVSA, in an attempt to strengthen neighboring regions, travels to the Northeast to help host a NEUVSA summit. The primary goal was to provide guidance to help establish an early foundation for the fledgling region.
- Planning begins for MAUVSA’s first multi-day regional leadership retreat, the Advance Conference.
- Hoainam Nguyen volunteers to serve as the conference’s Executive Director and all leads planning and coordination for the conference
2012 — Spring
MAUVSA hosts its inaugural multi-day regional leadership retreat, the MAUVSA Advance Conference, in Columbia, Maryland. The conference theme was “One Vision, One Movement.”
- MAUVSA’s First Advance Conference I, “One Vision, One Movement”
- MAUVSA hosts its inaugural multi-day regional leadership retreat, the MAUVSA Advance Conference, in Columbia, Maryland. The conference theme was “One Vision, One Movement.”
- MAUVSA’s first involvement with the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI)
- MAUVSA opens a office in Eden Center for storage and meetings. (Stephen’s note, The office cost us nothing however it was not officially leased by Eden Center, as a result of the loose contract MAUVSA had to close down it’s location in the fall of 2012.
“ “Grand opening, Grand Closing” said Jay-Z… Sigh…It was sweet while it lasted. I still dream a day when we have a central location to store and build our history” — Stephen Nguyen
The Office spawned a series of photos of various members standing in front of the MAUVSA Teal wall which featured MAUVSA’s mission statement. You might recognize some leaders in the collage below.
2012 — Summer
- ELECTION: 6th MAUVSA Executive board 5th MAUVSA Executive board Stephen Nguyen — President, Mary Ta — IVP, Frank Huynh — EVP, William Dang — Secretary.
President Stephen Nguyen, Internal Vice President Mary Ta, External Vice President Frank Hunyh, Treasurer unfilled, Secretary Willy Dang.
- MAUVSA 5th Gala, “Passing the Torch to a Brighter Future,” held on June 8, 2012 at Fortune Restaurant in Falls Church, Virginia
2012 — Fall
With 51.1 percent of the popular vote against Mitt Romney, Obama became the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to twice win the majority of the popular vote.
Monthly summits continue
2013— Spring
MAUVSA hosts it’s 2nd Advance Conference MAC II in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Tin Nguyen being the Executive Director.
ELECTION: 7th MAUVSA Executive board Tuan Duong elected President
President Tuan Duong, Internal Vice President Mai Pham, External Vice President Emily Duong, Treasurer Donna Huynh, Secretary Amber Nguyen, Alumni Association Chair unfilled, Historian Virginia Thai, Webmaster Christina Bui.
This is the first election that was not held at a Summit rather at the Conference itself. Stephen’s note: This change was in an attempt to make sure that elections were more visible to the wider membership and to inspire more general members run. Election participation and involvement had hit a all time low in the summer of 2012. This change was viewed by many as a much more positive step in involvement and participation of our members at large. The previous term would overlap the incoming term to help with passing of information and planning.
MAUVSA narrowly avoided a conference canceling snowstorm this year
2013 — Summer “MAUVSA goes to Camp”
- MAUVSA’s 6th Gala, rebranded as the Inauguration & Benefit Gala.
This is notable moment in which the new Executive board elected at the Advance Conference months prior actually start their term, hence “inauguration” gala.
- The First MAUVSA Leadership Camp (MLC1) is held at Summit Lake, Emmitsburg, MD
- MAUVSA attends UNAVSA 10 in Southern California
- MAUVSA rose to become the 2nd highest contributor to UNAVSA’s CPP “MEMO”
- GMU VSA raised the most money as a individual VSA for CPP beneficiary “MEMO”
2013 — Fall
Monthly summits continue
2014 — Spring
- MAUVSA’s 3rd Advance Conference (MAC III),”Mapping your Routes,” hosted in Front Royal, Virginia
- Executive Directors: Crysta Tran & Amber Nguyen
- ELECTION: 8th MAUVSA Executive board. President Tuan Duong, Internal Vice President Amber Nguyen, External Vice President Christian Nguyen, Secretary Dennis Truong, Treasurer Vinh Ngo (resigned)
2014 — Summer
- MAUVSA’s 6th Annual Inaugural Gala
- MAUVSA Attends UNAVSA 11 in Dallas Texas
- 2nd MAUVSA Leadership Camp (MLC2)
2014 — Fall
November 29, 2014 — Vietnamese American Appreciation Day and Book Signing
Second Generation Vietnamese Americans: A Comparative Perspective” written by Vy Thuy Nguyen
This book is the third in the series on the Fairfax County Asian American History Project (FCAAHP). It is a collection of stories in print and in pictures of those who were born as American citizens, who share a common Vietnamese ethnic origin, and who primarily grew up or chose to come and live in the Northern Virginia, D.C., and Maryland area
-Vy Thuy Nguyen
Monthly summits continue
2015 — Spring
- MAUVSA Advance Conference IV
- ELECTION: 8th MAUVSA executive board elected. President Amber Nguyen, Internal Vice President Crysta Tran, External Vice President Christian Nguyen, Secretary Dennis Truong, Treasurer Christine Tran (resigned)
- North Carolina State University joined MAUVSA as the 10th member school on Saturday, March 7th, 2015 during MAUVSA Advance Conference 4.
2015-Summer
- MAUVSA attends UNAVSA-12 “Momentum: Ripples of Progress” in Seattle, Washington
- MAUVSA’s 7th Annual Gala
I hold MAUVSA right next to my heart. honored and proud each and every day to have been part of this organization. #maallday — Tuan Duong (fb caption for photo above)
2015-Fall
Monthly summits continue
2016 — Spring
ODU VSA joined MAUVSA as the 11th member school on January 30, 2016 at Virginia Polytechnical Institute & State University’s summit.
- MAUVSA Advance Conference V held February 26–28, 2016 at the Westfields Marriott Conference Center in Chantilly, Virginia\
- Co-Executive Directors: Tiffany Nguyen & An Ho
- ELECTION: 8th MAUVSA Executive board Crysta Tran — President, Dennis Truong — IVP, Daniel Luu — EVP, Tiffany Nguyen — Treasurer, Tina Nguyen — Secretary
2016 — Summer
- MAUVSA becomes the #1 fundraising region for UNAVSA’s CPP “Kids Without Borders”
- MAUVSA Gala 2016 : photos
- 4th MAUVSA Leadership Camp (MLC4) [photos]
- MAUVSA attends UNAVSA’s 13th Conference“Light the Way” in Boston, MA
2016 — Fall
MAUVSA attends Miss Vietnam DC 2015 — a notable Midwest alum, Jessica Phan, wins!
10th Anniversary of first meeting to plan the union.
2017— Spring
MAUVSA Advance Conference VI: Making Waves
February 10 — February 12 at the Falls Church Marriott Fairview Park
2017 — Summer
10th Anniversary since the establishment and signing of MAUVSA’s constitution.
Special Thanks
Crysta Tran for asking the question that kick-started this post.
Hoainam Nguyen for historical corrections, accuracy, and taking the time to parse through my own historical mis-rememberings of dates. double thanks for double checking this after I had published. (probably triple checked after posting again)
Tiffany Nguyen for filling in the the gaps in the most recent years and providing me with links to photos and more.
Long Nguyen for always taking pictures and being there for the community.
Tuan Duong for supporting the organization, community, and myself as a great friend and brother.
Everyone who made their photos available online and on facebook for me to include.
All the leaders and members who’ve made these last 10 years a absolute joy for our community through smiles and hardwork.
I am only a human with fallible memory. Please email me at nguyenhstephen@gmail.com if you would like to add, correct, and format this post. (I will give you permission and instructions to directly edit).
Fin?
