On Saturday morning, familiar faces, community elders, student leaders, local officials, and longtime advocates all gathered at the Santa Clara County Government Center to mark a milestone fifty years in the making.
Congressman Ro Khanna of California’s 17th Congressional District hosted the Congressional Honoring Day for Vietnamese Americans in the Isaac Newton Senter Auditorium. It was a ceremony recognizing the individuals, student groups, organizations, and community friends whose quiet, steady work has helped shape one of the Bay Area’s most vibrant communities. Among those honored was the San José City College Vietnamese Student Association (VSA).
For the VSA students, the recognition was both humbling and well-earned. Over the years, the organization has worked to keep Vietnamese culture alive on campus — through cultural events, peer support, and a genuine sense of belonging for students who might otherwise feel caught between two worlds. Saturday’s ceremony was a chance for that work to be seen.
Those celebrating alongside the students included San José Evergreen Community College District Chancellor Beatriz Chaidez, Trustee Maria Fuentes, SJCC Humanities Dean Maristella Tapia, and SJCC Ethnic Studies Professor Cindy Huynh. Their presence sent a clear message that the college district stands behind its Vietnamese American students and the community they come from.
Congressman Khanna, in his invitation to the honorees, put it simply: the occasion exists because these contributions deserve recognition. For many in attendance, the morning was both a celebration and a reflection, a chance to look back at how much has been built since the first wave of Vietnamese refugees arrived in the Bay Area, and to acknowledge the students and organizations now carrying that story forward.
The San José City College Vietnamese Student Association’s inclusion among the honorees speaks to the quiet but steady work student organizations do, often without fanfare, to hold communities together and pass traditions on to the next generation.
