With over 300 members, the Andrews Filipino International Association is easily one of the largest clubs on campus. Although its name and number imply a very large Filipino population on campus, the majority of the club members are not of Filipino descent and are simply along for the ride to celebrate Filipino culture. In honor of Filipino American History Month, I decided to look into the history of this club and how it came to be. Andrews University alumnus Edsel Adap was able to share his experience with the beginnings of the group that eventually became AFIA, then known as Andrews Filipino Association (AFA).
“In the 1990’s, I was at Andrews University studying Computer Science and Mathematics. There were not a lot of Filipinos in my department. Aside from me, the only other Filipino in my program was Lowell Vitangcol. There were many other Filipino students on campus—pockets of Filipino ‘barkadas’—but these groups never really got together or hung out. They were mostly composed of a handful of individuals who came from the same locality. You had the Southern California Filipinos, the Northern California Filipinos, the Chicago Filipinos, Florida Filipinos, and the Filipino-Canadians, but these were all separate groups. Not only were we split by our geographical origins, but we were also splintered based on our courses of study. I would bump into a fellow Filipino every now and then, but aside from a quick ‘hi’ and knowing their names, I didn’t really spend much time with other Filipino students.
Around 1991-92, the idea of forming a Filipino club started to float around. Pastor Manny Vitug was [the] one who pushed the idea. He promoted the club so much that we even had a picture of our ‘unofficial’ club in the Cast! In the two years that followed, Andrews Filipino Association (AFA) became an official club. During those years we were still trying to figure out our organizational structure, what our goals were, what we wanted to accomplish as a club, and what impact or legacy we would like to leave. Our members were also still trying to find the right balance between club involvement and academics in addition to other aspects of student life. Naturally, not a lot happened. We didn’t have very many events, although I do remember having meetings and always having food. Not sure where the food came from, but my guess was it came from the Filipino community around Andrews University. During our humble beginnings, we experienced phenomenal support from the Filipino community of Berrien Springs. I’m sure that is still true today.
AFA provided a way for the different Filipino barkadas on campus to come together, get to know each other, become a community, and provide support for each other in many ways. The community stood behind us as we struggled; they had our backs. That is the spirit of barkada. Barkada is friendship. It is supporting each other. It’s caring for each other, and having each other's backs.”
As mentioned, an “Andrews Filipino Association” was featured in yearbooks and the club became official in the 1992-1993 school year. Edsel uses the Tagalog word barkada, meaning a group of friends, to describe the community and friendships formed by AFIA. A large draw to join cultural clubs on campus like AFIA is the fact that the clubs are open for anyone to be a part of and form a barkada, not just people of that specific ethnicity. Neil Adap, another AFIA founder and AU alumnus, says “the “I” in AFIA not only stands for international, but it also stands for inclusivity.” Today, 30 years after its founding, the Andrews Filipino International Association is still thriving. It holds major events including vespers, karaoke Christmas parties, and an annual cultural night that celebrates traditional Filipino dancing, music, and folklore.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.