In 1996, Columbia University students held a hunger strike and occupied several buildings to protest the lack of ethnic studies available for students. 40 Emory students affiliated with SAAAC and the Black Student Alliance (BSA) joined in support for Columbia soon after.

SAAAC participated in the protest because they were dissatisfied with the unkept promises that the Emory administration had made. Although Emory announced plans to implement an Asian Studies program two years prior, the Wheel reported that the delivered program was actually a mere reorganization of Asian-adjacent classes that Emory already offered, with no additional provisions for hiring new faculty or the creation of new classes. The BSA similarly protested because they felt that Emory’s efforts to support Black students were lacking.

Although change and reform were far from immediate, the small protest did grab the attention of Rudolph Byrd, Chair of African American Studies. He recognized the student demand and need for more robust ethnic studies at Emory and promised to push for the appointment of an Asian studies specialist within the foreseeable future. Byrd would go on to be one of the founding directors for the James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference in 2011.