Campus Connection

Growing up Naohoua (Tony) Yang, ’95 & ’03, was told he likely wouldn’t live to see his 18th birthday. The vast majority of his cousins didn’t as his extended family fled the Vietnam War, hid in jungles of Laos and survived life in a crowded refugee camp for eight years. Yang also assumed he’d never go to school, but today he holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from UWL. Now a cultural liaison for the La Crosse School District, he is grateful for the life and educational opportunities he’s had in the U.S. and shares that with the multicultural students he works with every day. “I talk about the fact that they have a great opportunity being able to go to school in this country and they need to take advantage of it,” says Yang. For his leadership and commitment to building community and combating social injustice in the La Crosse area, Yang received the 2016 Martin Luther King Jr. Community Leader Award during the MLK Community Celebration Monday, Jan. 18, at Viterbo University. “When we talk about 21st century education needs today, we need leaders like Tony Yang,” says Dempsey Miller, a St. Paul School District administrator who used to work with Yang as a cultural liaison in La Crosse. “The effect he has on organizations, families, students and staff is like no other.” Celebration organizers say Yang deeply exemplifies the legacy of King as a role model for many, as well as in his work for social justice and opportunity. Escaping war Yang’s family escaped the Vietnam War in 1975 when he was only four years old. They lived in the jungles of Laos for four years, moving constantly to hide from the communists. Then late one night, they fled Laos, crossing the Mekong River on a raft into Thailand. There they spent another eight years living in a crowded refugee camp before coming to the U.S. in 1987. Yang was 14 years old when he arrived in this country. He had no English or prior schooling other than some Thai language classes he’d taken at the refugee camp to help his mother sell water and other goods to other refugees to survive. Yang remembers starting at the very beginning — learning his ABCs in a class for English language learners at Logan High School. After six months, he transitioned into regular classes with the help of a teacher’s aid. By his sophomore year he was learning quickly and started working a part-time job in addition to school to help support his family. While some students would be frustrated with these circumstances, Yang thought attending school was a special privilege — something his parents never had the opportunity to do. Yang was also grateful for pre-college and university programs and services such as Upward Bound, a federal TRIO program, as well as UWL’s Student Support Services and Multicultural Student Services. Through these programs he was able to better prepare for college entrance exams, find college tutoring and connect with other students on campus. This support he received made him interested in helping others the same way. Supporting others When the school district position opened, Yang saw it as a way to be able to provide the same kind of support to others that he had received.  As a cultural liaison, he has dedicated his career to supporting multi-cultural students who need help with issues from academics to attendance. A big part of his job is encouraging students and showing them how to participate in their classrooms, in the school and community. Yang says sometimes small challenges can get in the way of involvement. For instance, his parents hadn’t been to school before and didn’t speak English, which made seemingly simple tasks like getting a physical exam or filling out the proper forms to play sports difficult. “A lot of these kids need that extra guidance and someone who can challenge them a bit,” he says. The difference he feels he can make in kid’s lives is what has kept him with the district so long. Yang created many La Crosse School District programs to meet the needs of his students. Then, he’d work weekends and summers running them, providing new educational and other opportunities to kids and the community at large, says Miller. Yang can be found around the community sharing the history of the Vietnam War with area students, presenting during black history month events, giving presentations about Hmong history and culture and advocating for underrepresented populations. Although the MLK award is for leadership, Yang considers himself more of a role model to the students than a leader. He was surprised to receive the award because he didn’t expect anything in return for the work he does with students. “That’s just who I am,” he said.