The Asian Pacific American Cultural Resource Center celebrated its third year of operation yesterday with an anniversary party.

The center is located in the Martin Luther King Jr. Building, Room 320. Twenty people attended the anniversary party.

The celebration included a recitation of the center's history and certificates of appreciation for the volunteers and staff who have contributed to the center's success.

Two years after supporters set out to create the resource center, it was finally granted office space in spring 1993 and officially began operating March 9 that year.

"We wanted to be a bridge between all cultures," said Jason Wong, one of the center's founders and a 1995 UA graduate. "All the hard work was worth it. It all paid off."

The center also serves as a resource for Asian students to find direction when they arrive on campus.

"It is important that students feel comfortable wherever they are on campus. That's why we should be available," said Fai Mo, industrial engineering senior who is on the center's board of directors.

The center provides information to students about the Wellness Center and the Student Recreation Center, as well as scholarship opportunities and cultural events.

"We're not just here for Asian Pacific Students, we're here for everybody," Mo said.

The Asian Pacific American Cultural Resource Center was the last of the four cultural centers to be created.

"There's a stereotype that (Asians) excel and therefore that we don't need help. A lot of people feel that there isn't a need for this kind of center," Mo said.

Cecilia Lou, the center's assistant dean, said the office was really sparse when she was hired in summer 1994. "We had a couple of desks, a telephone and two broken computers," she said. "We didn't even have the capability to do the basic stuff that everybody else on campus could."

During the center's second year, staff focused on developing a brochure and mission statement. "We provided a lot of service that year, which we didn't know we would do," Lou said.

In 1994 the center worked with about 1,000 students on a walk-in basis. Last year the number more than doubled to 2,500, Lou said.

"The number of students keeps growing. We're the largest minority group on campus with the smallest space to accommodate our services," she said.

For the future, Lou hopes to continue building partnerships around campus, and to obtain more exposure with non-Asian students. She would also like to get Asian studies into academics, incorporating the culture into the university's curriculum.

"We hope to continue to bring programs and resources to students as best as we can in the future."