By Assunta Ng
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Frank Irigon accepts UW Charles Odegaard award in May 2022 (Photo by Assunta Ng)
Everything about the University of Washington (UW)’s 2022 highest community service award was ironic.
The recipient of the UW Charles E. Odegaard Award was Frank Irigon last month. Along with his friends, Irigon had fought UW hard not just once, but thrice, against its policies, systems, and assumptions.
“I was stunned and surprised!” said Irigon when he learned of the award. “Me, who was arrested and jailed for occupying Schmitz Hall. Me, who spent more time at the HUB than at the library. Me, who with other members of the Asian Students Coalition planned our protests and demonstrations at the Ethnic Cultural Center.”
Known as a troublemaker, radical activist, and protester at the forefront of numerous social justice movements in the 1970s and 1980s, Irigon has been jailed twice, including once for protesting South Africa’s apartheid. Recently, he has been involved in the fighting of the anti-Asian hate crimes since 2021.
The protests led to changes in UW’s past unjust policies towards Asian American students in the 1970s and 1980s. The assumptions UW carried were that Asian American students were a model minority, and didn’t need help like other underprivileged students. That misconception squeezed out those who didn’t excel academically or in science and math, including Irigon. So many Asian students were left out, said Irigon.
To get UW to change, Irigon said its personnel, admission, and financial aid departments needed to hire Asian Americans. Yet, these departments had hired Black and Latino recruiters and financial aid officers to help their own communities.
The lack of Asian American representation in these offices would translate into messages that hiring Asian Americans wasn’t important, that they wouldn’t be considered, and that job opportunities were not open to AAPIs at UW, period. But the implication in the financial office was even more detrimental. Those who couldn’t afford higher education wouldn’t be aware of the financial help and resources available to them. And yet, Asian American students were the largest minority on campus, then and now.
Ironically, the third protest Irigon and other students fought had to do with the Equal Opportunity Program (EOP), part of the current Office of Minority & Diversity Affairs (OMA&D), the organizer of the Odegaard award.
To join the EOP, students were required to have three letters of recommendation from teachers and counselors, plus a good SAT score and GPA. Irigon contended that EOP then, was more interested in retention of the current students and not recruitment of new students.
“I wouldn’t be able to get in (EOP) with those requirements,” said Irigon. “My teachers would never write me one (letter of recommendation).” It’s a burden for students to fulfill those requirements, he added.
Since these protests, UW has gotten rid of all those outdated rules. Not only that, the head of OMDF, Rickey Martin, called Irigon personally to inform him that he was the award recipient.
Earlier that day, Irigon, who had run for the Newcastle City Council in 2021, got the news that he had lost by 10 votes. This was the second time he ran for the seat. A bittersweet moment, he said, “It’s the best consolation prize.” It’s better to be “recognized by UW than the voters of Newcastle.”
What’s unsaid is that the award is a full circle moment for Irigon. He might have fought the university in the past, but he was also an alumnus, a former one-time employee, and an ardent supporter of many of UW’s programs for students of color for decades. Also, he is the first Filipino American to have received the award since its inception in 1973.
That’s the beauty of America, building on the foundation of democracy, embedding it in its education system. Students have the right to speak up against injustices, sue the university, and can still get a degree from that institution. It’s part of leadership development. Don’t ever try that in Russia or other autocratic countries, it will be a totally different story.
It’s also a sweet moment for the UW. This was the first in-person event since the pandemic, raising more than $410,000 for scholarships.
There were 245 in-person attendees and 168 virtual attendees for a total of 413 people together for the evening.
Born in the Philippines in 1947, Frank Irigon immigrated to the U.S. with his mother and siblings in 1950 to join his father, who was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas. Irigon later rejoined his father, retiring from the U. S. Army. A product of the 1960s, he lived experiences during those tumultuous times shaped his political views and inspired him to do good and be of service to all people pursing the American dream.
Enlisting in the U.S. Army after graduating high school, he served honorably from 1965 to 1968. He received his Bachelor of Arts and masters in social work from the University of Washington. Irigon was co-founder and editor of the first pan Asian periodical in Seattle, the Asian Family Affair. Later, he and his friends founded the International District Community Health Center and was the clinic’s second executive director.
Irigon is on the board of the Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action, the OCA Asian Pacific American advocates-Greater Seattle Chapter, and the Asian and Pacific Islander Americans for Civic Engagement (APACE). He is married to wife Felicita, and has three children and five grandchildren.
Irigon, the father
Frank Irigon and his family and friends (Photo by Assunta Ng)
For those who were on the opposite side of Irigon, who see only his tough-guy image, they would not know that he is also a gentle human being. Although Irigon lamented to the Asian Weekly that he “wasn‘t a good father” for “spending too much time in the community,” his three grown children think otherwise. They appreciate his sense of humor and his love for his friends and family, and are proud of his social justice stance.
Theressa Irigon-Rachetto described his dad as “passionate and resilient. He is so loving towards everyone, even after a meeting where he may have yelled at you to fight for what is right.
“He is incredibly intelligent, always reading and studying. He is constantly giving back to the community. Volunteering—everything from helping at food banks to using his skills for grant writing for nonprofits.”
Both of Irigon’s sons, Jean-Mario and Paixi, also echoed their sister’s sentiment that their dad is “extremely passionate about his causes.”
“Family dinners and celebrations are always jovial events,” said Jean-Mario. However, “should politics or inequality of any means, with racial and economic disparity, being his trigger points,” there will be “a discernible change in him.”
Jean-Mario said his dad influenced him to “take into consideration and care about the bigger picture of community, of ethnic Filipino pride, and being a voice for those that have none. But also, to take no B.S.”
Jean-Mario has also inherited his dad’s “loud laugh and sense of humor…and the immense love he has for his family and friends are benchmarks.”
“The incident that resonated with me the most was when he was arrested for protesting apartheid in South Africa at the local embassy,” said Jean-Mario. “I was exposed to politics and unjust practices from birth, I had listened to dinner table conversations, read Time Magazine articles, and watched news segments on 60 Minutes. South Africa was a land so far away but the fact that our father took part, LOCALLY, to affect change was awesome.
“I also remember our mother Felicita was, understandably, not thrilled but also proud and supportive of him. They share the same passions when it comes to inequality and disparity.”
“Committed” is Paixi’s way of thinking about his dad.
Gala menu served includes hummus and crudité, roasted beet salad with pomegranate molasses and sunflower seeds, five-spice braised beef brisket served cold with chili garlic oil, chirashi sushi bowl, steamed pork hum bao, fresh vegetable rolls, corn salad with lime, chili, and cotija cheese, miser wat injera rolls, and dessert including baklava, cream puffs and fresh berries (Photo by Assunta Ng)
“If he had to describe his father in one sentence, it would be, ‘Whatever he does, he gives it his all. His family, the causes he supports or even eating all the food on his plate.’
“I love, and admire, how my dad always remembers people’s names and he makes it a point to introduce us. He also has a gift to bring people together and build strong relationships. I also love and hate my dad’s humor.”
What does this Father’s Day mean for Irigon’s children?
“I love that my children have a strong relationship with them (elders) and learn to be proud to be Asian and Filipino American,” said Irigon-Rachetto. “I want my children to continue (dad’s) work for justice and equality.”
Remembering his dad had gone through a heart-transplant more than a decade ago, Paixi said, “When your dad has a heart-transplant, every Father’s Day is special.”
Assunta can be reached at assunta@nwasianweekly.com.