Amherst College Dean of Students Records. Associate Dean of Students Bekki Lee
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
- 1979-2009
Creator
- Lee, Bekki, 1956-2013 (Person)
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).
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.
- Amherst College. Asian Students Association
- Asian American college students Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Student activities Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Student affairs services Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Source
- Amherst College. Dean of Students Office (Organization)
- 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
Amherst College Archives & Special Collections
Robert Frost Library
61 Quadrangle Drive
Amherst MA 01002-5000
(413) 542-2299
archives@amherst.edu