Staff

Angela Rola - Founding Director (1993-2025)

Angela Rola (pronouns: she/her/hers), former Director of the Asian American Cultural Center at the University of Connecticut, has been appointed as the new Senior Director for Inclusion and Community, Undergraduate Student Success. In this role, she will oversee all of UConn’s cultural centers and cultural programs, fostering a campus culture of belonging and empowerment. Known for her decades-long dedication to advocacy, mentorship, and advancing equity, Angela has transformed countless student experiences. Her visionary leadership will continue to inspire and support UConn’s diverse student community in powerful new ways.

During her time as AsACC's director, she has developed a variety of programs focusing on the diverse Asian American community in both the State of Connecticut and across the nation. Angela has developed two mentoring programs, Asiantation Mentoring Program– a program for entering UConn students and K.U.B.E. (Kids & UConn, Bridging Education) – a community-based program for middle school students. In addition to directing the center, she teaches a course on The Asian American Experience, a required course for all AMP Mentors and lectures extensively in undergraduate and graduate courses on campus as well as other public and private schools, and for profit and non-profit companies nationwide. She is a diversity trainer for state mandated training and develops site appropriate training programs.

Angela serves on numerous committees and task forces throughout the University. From 1991-93 she was President of the UConn Asian Faculty & Staff Association and now holds an Executive Board position. Within the state of Connecticut, Angela served as one of the commissioners for the Commission on Equity & Opportunity (CEO) from 2008-2017.  She was appointed as one of six Asian Americans to represent the concerns of the community in the state.

Angela has received many awards both on campus and throughout the state. The CT Women's Education and Legal Fund (CWEALF) named her as one of the October 2010 recipients of the "One Woman Makes a Difference" award honoring women who have personally and professionally made a difference in the lives of women and girls in Connecticut. In 2015, the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) awarded her the Henry Gee Outstanding Mentoring Award from the Asian/Pacific Islander, Desi American (APIDA) Knowledge Community.

merz lim - Director

merz lim (pronouns: he/him/his) is the Director at the Asian American Cultural Center.  merz began his student affairs career at Texas A&M University in 2008.  He then pursued his M.A. in Higher Education in Student Affairs at UConn working as a graduate assistant at AsaCC. He has also held other positions at University of Maryland-College Park and Rutgers University-New Brunswick, NJ working within Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) students.  His passion for working within the APIA lens ignited when he went to UConn and found himself challenged and inspired by a community who cared about giving back and dissected the intersections of being APIA.   He was able to share his own stories as an immigrant and validate the familial pressures with the students that he interacted with. In hopes to empower and to work towards positive change.  As a student affairs educator, he finds great joy in sparking the passions among students while developing their leadership, identity, and aspirations.  In his free time, he enjoys eating, running, hiking, bouldering, and the willingness to try something new!

 

Jeffrey Alton - Associate Director

Jeffrey Alton (he/him/his) is the Assistant Director of the Asian American Cultural Center. Born and raised in East Hartford, CT, Jeff is a two-time UConn alumnus, earning a Bachelors of English with a Minor in Asian American Studies and a Master's degree in Higher Education, Student Affairs. Prior to UConn, he worked as the Associate Director of the Asian American Resource and Cultural Center (AARCC) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), where he directed the Asian American Mentor Program, College Day, was an instructor in Global Asian Studies and in the Honors College, and was the liaison to a variety of offices in Student Affairs. His passion for working with the Asian and Asian American community and other underrepresented and underserved communities comes from his own experience at UConn and with the AsACC; where he developed the skills and had the experiences to redirect his life path from nursing to education. In his spare time he is a cat enthusiast, avid gamer, fisherman, eater of many things, and a traveler to places near and far.

 

Sounthaly (Sou) Thammavong - Program Coordinator

Sou is a two-time UConn alumna receiving her B.A. in History and a minor in Asian American Studies in 2007 and a Master’s in Social Work Policy Practice in 2013. During graduate school she served as the graduate assistant at the Asian American Cultural Center. She then worked as an educational assistant at Manchester Community College focusing on first generation students in a dedicated learning community. Her focus since 2015 has been in the non-profit sector in grant administration serving underserved populations in recovery-oriented programs. Sou currently serves as the Program Assistant for UConn Hartford’s TEAS (Transformation, Equity, Access, and Sense of Belonging) Project funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education for Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander (AANAPISI) serving institutions.

 

 

 

 

Emi Yamasaki - Graduate Assistant

Emi Yamasaki (pronouns: she/her/hers) is the Graduate Assistant at the Asian American Cultural Center. Emi earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychological Science with a minor in Japanese Studies at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). Before entering the Higher Education and Student Affairs Master’s program at UConn, she previously held a position at California State University, Northridge as an Outreach Counselor, with her role focused on creating strategies and initiatives that supported prospective and incoming Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi American students. Emi’s passion for higher education stemmed from the opportunities she was able to access as an undergraduate to grow academically, professionally, and personally. This passion led to purpose during her time as a Peer Educator and Coordinator for the UCI Student Outreach and Retention Center’s Pathfinder program, where she supported students who were facing various systemic and institutional barriers within the university. As an advocate for education and creating equitable opportunities that support marginalized students, Emi hopes to create and/or maintain spaces where students can explore and develop their identities while also finding support, opportunity, growth, and success from their university experience. In her free time, Emi enjoys playing sports, listening to music, traveling, eating, and learning new things. 

 

 

 

 

 

Student Staff

The student staff of the Asian American Cultural Center is crucial to its successful operation. We strive to assemble a staff that is sincerely committed to the center’s mission and programs.

Employment at the center requires:

  • a professional and productive work ethic
  • knowledge of the center’s history, facts and services
  • attendance at specified meetings
  • planning and preparation of specific center programs or projects
  • support and attendance at center events
  • attendance at a minimum of 2 events each semester sponsored by other cultural centers
  • making presentations on current Asian American issues for staff meetings
  • ability to represent the center at other campus events
  • training to assume a leadership role in Asian American activism

Students who share this commitment and are interested in working at the center, please contact the office and inquire about employment.