The Li Family Gift of $1.1 Million in Memory of Calvin Li Supports Study of Second-Generation Asian Americans: First Li Fellow Named

Calvin Li was fun and outgoing. He was a wide receiver on the Wootton High School football team, who loved cracking jokes and was overjoyed last year when he was accepted to the University of Maryland.

Calvin was, in short, the sort of person called "all-American." Yet, as the son of Chinese immigrants, he didn't always feel accepted in his country. He chafed at strangers asking where he was "really from" and his family's attempts to teach him about his ancestral culture. It was a complex identity crisis that was unresolved when Calvin tragically died in a drunk-driving car accident last June.

"When I looked back, I felt there were a lot of things about my son I didn't understand because of the cultural experiences," says Paul Li, Calvin's father.

In memory of his son, Li is giving $1.2 million to the University of Maryland to create the Calvin J. Li Endowed Fellowship in Asian American Studies. It will fund a postdoctoral fellow or visiting scholar to research the issues facing second-generation Asian Americans.

These children face a complicated racial landscape, says Professor Janelle Wong, director of UMD's Asian American Studies Program. They often can feel like "perpetual foreigners," even as some more recently immigrated parents may rely on them to navigate language and cultural barriers such as how to pay bills.

"They become an authority in that role," Wong says. "It can create an interesting but sometimes challenging family dynamic."

Li says Asian-American children like Calvin often struggle with the "model minority" stereotype of exceptional academic achievement, heaping even more pressure on kids struggling with their identity.

"I wanted to turn this tragedy into something meaningful," Li says. "I would say Calvin would be proud that I did this. I think there are a lot of kids like him."*

K. Anh Do of the University of Nebraska Named First Li Fellow

K. Anh Do is the inaugural Calvin J. Li Fellow in Asian American Studies. She was selected from a very competitive pool of applicants. Ms. Do is excited about starting the Li Fellowship: "I am fueled by a curiosity to learn about the internal and contextual influences on human and family development in relation to culture and migration. This position will provide a venue for me to pursue my curiosity and help me to build a strong research program to promote the well-being of Asian American families and children."

K. Anh Do's primary research interest is Asian American families. She is currently a researcher with the University of Nebraska's Parenting Across Cultures Study to explore parenting practices in Filipino, Chinese, Korean, Asian Indian, African American and Vietnamese families. Do has a strong publication record that includes an essay on Asian American families' adjustment to the U.S. context: "The Ecology of Strengths and Stress" in the Handbook of Marriage and the Family (3rd ed.New York: Springer). At the University of Nebraska, she developed and taught a course on "Asian and Asian American Family Strengths and Challenges."

Ms. Do will receive her Ph.D. from the Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies, at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln in August 2016. She will start the fellowship in August and will hit the ground running with a class on Asian American families in the fall.

*Information on the Li family gift from an article by Liam Farrell that appears in June 2016 issue of Boldness, a newsletter for supporters if the University of Maryland.