Virginia Tech sorry for using photo of Fil-Ams in flyer for foreign students

Hunter Gresham, executive director of communications and information technology for student affairs at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, apologized to the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) community after a photo of the Filipino American Student Association (FASA) was used to represent international students in a promotional flyer.

The Collegiate Times reported that the promotional flyer released by the Cranwell International Center (CIC) was for the International Student Barometer survey and stated, “Help Make Virginia Tech Better for International Students! Tell us what IS and IS NOT working well.”

Screenshot of tweet protesting the use of a photo of Filipino American students in a flyer meant for “international students.”

However, the photo used was taken at the International Street Fair last spring. All of the Filipino students in the photo are all American, not international students.

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the issue gained attention after Rajni Kapania, a junior majoring in business information technology, posted the flyer with the caption, “VT stays disrespecting minorities when literally NONE of these students are international … when is this gonna end”

The Asian American Student Union, a Virginia Tech organization that umbrellas 13 other student organizations, released a statement on social mediathat said “microaggressions make it difficult to feel a sense of community, especially at a predominately white institution (PWI). A university is supposed to be a (home) away from home for students. When Virginia Tech advertises a false narrative, it supports the idea that those who look foreign do not fit the image of an ‘American’. (sic)”

Moreover, a second issue that arose was that in the email Gresham wrote, “On the flyer, a photo was taken at the International Street festival by our staff photographer.”

However, the photo the CIC used in the flyer wasn’t actually taken by them, but by Shawn de Lopez, a junior majoring in creative technologies.