Photo by Emma Hayakawa | The Independent Florida Alligator
Source: The Independent Florida Alligator
By Garrett Shanley
Y.K. Wong arrived at the port of San Francisco from Guangdong, China, on Nov. 9, 1902. Thirteen years later, he enrolled as one of the first Asian American students at UF.
Wong attended UF during a period marked by anti-Chinese sentiment across the U.S. Intolerance towards Chinese Americans resulted in the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which barred the immigration of Chinese laborers to the U.S. and made it significantly harder for Chinese students to study at American universities.
Despite widespread prejudice, Wong graduated from UF with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture and was held in high regard by his peers. On May 26, 1916, The Alligator reported that Wong presented a paper to the Agricultural Club “on ‘The Agriculture of China,’ which he read to the enjoyment of all.”
Wong attended UF when the total number of Asian students remained in the single digits. Over a century later, UF is home to nearly 5,500 AAPI students, an Asian American student union, and an Asian American studies minor.
UF alumnus Phillip Cheng examined Wong in the history of Asian American UF students in his 2019 thesis.
The research for his thesis began with a question.
“If I was a brand new student at UF [walking] down the halls of the Reitz Union or some other high traffic area, and I saw images of Asian American students on the walls from the 1900s, from the ‘30s, from the ‘40s … how would that then impact my own ability to connect to the institution?” Cheng said.