Students at many major universities are voicing their disapproval of a new line of Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirts with stereotypical Asian themes. At the University of California at Berkeley, almost 1,000 students protested the company and are also sending a petition urging students to call the company and voice their concerns.
“A lot of action is being taken,” Berkeley Asian American Association President Vincent Chang said.
But student reaction here at the University has been quiet so far.
Members of the University’s Asian-Pacific American Student Union are kicking off the Asian History Month opening ceremony at 4 p.m. Friday in the EMU Amphitheater. A combination of planning these events and many members of APASU not finding out about the controversy until late last week or early this week led to their delayed response, according to APASU historian Ma Vang.
She said APASU representatives will inform the audience at the end of the ceremony about the situation and what can be done to help. From there, students are marching down Thirteenth Street in celebration of Asian History Month. Vang said they plan to wear T-shirts with the Abercrombie & Fitch initials crossed out on the front of
the shirt.
They are also handing out fliers about the situation and how they think the company has discriminated against Asians, APASU Co-Director Jeanice Chieng said.
“We will be writing letters asking for people to support our cause,” Chieng said.
Washington State University Asian Pacific American Student Coalition co-chairman Tim Yep said his group has similarly focused its energy more this month on a celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Although they did not promote students to take action, he said they made sure Asian students were kept aware.
“There was a message sent out to Asian students communicating what others are doing,” he said. Yep said this problem is nothing new, and many students stopped supporting the store long before this became an issue.
“A lot of people feel it’s stupid and they’ve never supported Abercrombie & Fitch in the past,” he said. “Their ads cater to mainstream consumers versus being sensitive to particular cultures,” he said.
Representatives from the Eugene’s Valley River Center store referred all questions — including if they even carried the shirts — to the Abercrombie & Fitch customer service office, which sent calls to the company’s public relations office. No one in the public relations department was available for comment. But a few students have been seen on campus wearing the shirts.

— Robin Weber