The Asian Affinity Group, also known as the Pan-Asians Standing Together, hosts and organizes events for the Asian community to bond on campus. Starting in the 1950s, Kent School admitted its first Asian student and then reached its peak in the Asian student population in mid-2020. However, “There wasn’t an Asian Affinity Club until three years ago, in 2021,” said Ms. You, who serves as one of the faculty leaders of this Asian Affinity Club. In 2021, the Asian community decided to start a group to connect all Asian students from diverse backgrounds and different Asian countries, including but not limited to, China Mainland, Hong Kong SAR, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Mongolia, Philippines, India, and Singapore.

 Currently, this club is led by student leaders Janet Wu ’25, Jinnie Prapakamol ’25, Amy Hwang ’26, and Harry Wan ’26, and two Asian senior council members, Dennis Zeng ’25, and Kaitlyn Shen ’25, along with two teacher supervisors, Ms. Lorn and Ms. You. The group has a membership of around 130 students in total. One of the student leaders, Jinnie, said, “On one side, our mission is to host events for the group, but on the other side, we also try to share each of our country’s culture with the school through Blue Key activities. We are trying to promote a welcoming community for our fellow Asians to feel comfortable and at home.”

Recently, they hosted activities like mooncake-making for the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival and Mahjong gatherings on Saturday nights. Moving on, they have plans for bi-weekly activities cooperating with Blue Key and the coming Chinese New Year.