Hapa Club promotes brotherhood amongst different races

By
Cougar Staff
 – January 29, 2007Posted in:

Hapa Club members ponder brotherhoodWalking around on club rush day, there were so many options for what clubs to join. But, as I looked, I wasn’t able to see any club that had to do with race that was open to a lot of different people. I saw the Black Student Union, Asian Student Union, Orgullo Latino Student Union, South Asian Student Union, Jewish Student Union, and BBQ Student Union.

As I saw all of these clubs, I felt as if something was missing… Until I heard the deep voice of the masculine and charismatic Brian Aller, president of the Hapa Club. He was yelling out for people to join, and I noticed a rather large and diverse group of people circled around the table.

“Hapa,” which is a Hawaiian word for “of mixed blood,” is generally a term used for people who are half white, half Asian. However, in this club, it is used to mean any kind of mixed race. The club is also open to friends of Hapas or Hapa admirers, as the flyers state.

“I hope to accomplish universal brotherhood between all races in this high school,” said Aller, “It’s a club for people with open minds. I saw all the other racial student unions, and decided that there needed to be one for mixed race. This club is open to anyone, and everyone may join.”

The club does a lot of things to attract members, such as have random potlucks during lunch, bake sales, parties, and more. The club has drawn roughly 45 devoted members, and will hopefully gain more as time goes on. This is a great way to promote diversity even more at our school, though there is an entire week dedicated to it in the Spring. The club is not yet sure what they will do for the diversity assembly, but it is a ways away, so I’m sure they will think of something brilliant.