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Amherst College Dean of Students Records. Associate Dean of Students Bekki Lee

 Collection
Identifier: RG 006-001

Scope and Contents

Records documenting the professional activities of Rebecca (Bekki) Lee, Amherst College Associate Dean of Students, in her role advising various Asian and women’s student affinity groups from 1986 to 2009. Records primarily consist of promotional event material, correspondence, meeting minutes, budgetary information, and newsletters. Student groups represented include the Asian Students Association (ASA), Korean-American Students Association (KASA), AIKYA or South Asian Students Association, Pacific Island and South East Asian Students (PISEAS), Asian American Studies Committee (AASC), Diversity Task Force (DTF), and Amherst Feminist Alliance (AFA).

Material of particular interest may include civil rights activist Yuri Kochiyama’s annotated speech notes and signed letter; correspondence with and workshop flyers for former poet laureate of Oregon, Lawson Inada; responses from a 1990 faculty survey on Asian American Studies; and correspondence with President Ward on the creation of an Asian Cultural Center. The records also include a file on Asian Student Association History from Dean Jean Moss spanning from 1979 to 1981.

Dates

  • Creation: 1979-2009

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

In general, there is no restriction on access to the collection for research use. Particularly fragile items may be restricted.

Conditions Governing Use

Requests for permission to publish material from the collection should be directed to the Archives and Special Collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.

Biographical / Historical

Rebecca (Bekki) Lee worked at Amherst College for 23 years in various roles in the Dean of Students’ Office and the Career Center. As Dean of Students, she advised Asian and women’s student affinity groups, including the Asian Students Association and the Amherst Feminist Alliance. Her appointment in 1986 was in part the result of activism by the Asian Students Association to secure an Asian-American administrator.

Born in New York, N.Y. on Jan. 21, 1956, Lee received her B.A. in psychology and M.S. in psychological services in education from the University of Pennsylvania. Before her time at Amherst, she held positions at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of California, Davis, and Oberlin College. Lee’s husband, David E. Hansen, was Amherst’s Deutch Professor of Chemistry and Julian H. Gibbs 1946 Professor of Chemistry. In 2009, Lee and her family moved to California, where she became Dean of Students and Vice President of Student Affairs at Scripps College. Lee died on October 12, 2013. Following her death, the Bekki Lee Endowment Fund was founded at Scripps for students who honor her commitment to education, access, and inclusivity.

Citations: “Rebecca Lee Obituary,” Daily Hampshire Gazette, Jan. 28, 2014. “Bekki Lee (1956-2013),” Amherst College, Oct. 15, 2013. “Remembering Bekki Lee,” Scripps College, Oct. 13, 2013. “Celebrating Bekki Lee’s legacy with new scholarship,” Scripps College, Feb. 6, 2015.

Extent

1.5 Linear feet (1 record box, 1 archives box)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Records documenting the professional activities of Rebecca (Bekki) Lee, Amherst College Associate Dean of Students, in her role advising various Asian and women’s student affinity groups from 1986 to 2009. Student groups represented include the Asian Students Association (ASA), Korean-American Students Association (KASA), AIKYA or South Asian Students Association, Pacific Island and South East Asian Students (PISEAS), Asian American Studies Committee (AASC), Diversity Task Force (DTF), and Amherst Feminist Alliance (AFA).

Related Materials

  1. Asian Students Association Records
  2. Amherst College Clubs and Societies Collection

Processing Information

These records were recieved from Dean Lee in 2009. In 2022, the material was reviewed and refoldered; original order and folder titles were retained. Where folders were unlabeled, titles were assigned. A small amount of individual student records were removed from the collection.

Author
Gabrielle Avena (AC 2025), Student Assistant
Date
2022
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Amherst College Archives and Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Amherst College Archives & Special Collections
Robert Frost Library
61 Quadrangle Drive
Amherst MA 01002-5000
(413) 542-2299