Annually, the George Mason University Alumni Association and Alumni Affairs awards scholarships to students to further their education at Mason. One of the scholarships, the John C. and Louise P. Wood Graduate Scholarship has been awarded to Nancy Xiong, a master’s student in Sociology who is working towards certificates in WGST and Global Proficiency. On April 4, 2012, Nancy will be attending the 2013 George Mason University Scholarship Dinner to be recognize by Dr. Angel Cabrera and Dr. Beth Cabrera.
Nancy is a Hmong-American student and the first in her family to successfully pursue higher education, which is one of her greatest accomplishments. Many Americans are unfamiliar with the Hmong people; briefly, after the Americans pulled out of the Vietnam War where the Hmong were seen as rebels to the Lao government and ordered to be executed as they fought alongside the United States, Nancy’s young parents fled their homes and resettled in the US for a new life. With little to no access to education and an agrarian lifestyle in the remote Lao mountains, they came seeking a better life for their children. With incredibly hard work and after several years on public assistance, they earned their U.S. citizenship and began to fully support their family. They taught their children everything they knew, including the importance of working hard and the valuable gifts of a post secondary education. Coming from a small community in Wisconsin, Nancy believes that her educational endeavors can be taken as inspiration for younger Hmong females to achieve despite the cultural norms that work against them. At Mason, she engages in academic conversations and is working on producing scholarly work on immigration and gender issues in the Hmong community for public policy, social change, and future generations to come.
Aside to academia, Nancy has been working and volunteering with campus and community organizations. She currently serves on the planning committee of International Café under the leadership of the Office of International Programs and Services. This event happens twice a semester and draws in over 100 people. For Women’s History Month, Nancy has been instrumental in organizing a number of events to bring awareness and further the knowledge of students, faculty and community members. Since 2009, she trained and served as an advocate for survivors of domestic violence with the Asian Pacific Islander Domestic Violence Resource Project (DVRP) based in Washington, DC. She accompanied clients to court hearings and lawyer visits; assisted them in navigating legal services; and volunteered at various community events to educate the community on domestic violence. She has recently been appointed as a Community Ambassador for DVRP. At George Mason University, she had the privilege of taking a course in family violence by Dr. Angela Hattery which helped her conceptualize violence against women and fueled her energy to work on the issue even more. Lastly, the course provoked Nancy to attend the EMERGE training held by WAVES, which focused on how to respond to sexual assault victims on campus.
March 22, 2013
