What We Do

To cultivate a SJSU community where students thrive through belonging, empowerment, and engagement with Asian and Pacific Islander cultures, communities, and experiences.

Mission

The Center for Asian Pacific Islander Student Empowerment (CAPISE) provides community-building and empowerment opportunities for students at San José State University rooted in Asian and Pacific Islander cultures, communities, and experiences. Empowerment takes on many forms, embodied in our 6 core values: 

• Belonging: When we feel we belong, that there is a place for each one of us and we are appreciated for who we are and what we bring, we are empowered.
• Community: When we can build a community together, where we appreciate and value each person’s identities, experiences, and skills and understand how we are stronger together, we are empowered.
• Culture: When we explore and embrace our cultures, both in appreciation of what our cultures have given us and in critique of how we can retain and grow within them, we are empowered.
• Growth: When we acknowledge that we will always be growing, that we cannot be still and will forever be changing and learning, we are empowered.
• Advocacy: When we learn to advocate for ourselves and for others, to speak our truths and ask for what we need, we are empowered.
• Social Justice: When we recognize the importance of social justice in our lives, that to support equity and liberation for all communities uplifts us and our own communities, we are empowered. 

Guided by these core values, we cultivate inclusive spaces, meaningful programs, and leadership opportunities that support students from recruitment through graduation.

Through these experiences, CAPISE empowers students to embrace their identities, strengthen their academic, leadership, and self-advocacy skills, and contribute to the well-being and advancement of their communities on campus and beyond.