CHID seeks to honor Bruce Lee

He is an influential martial artist, actor, philosopher and teacher who Time magazine listed as one of the "100 Most Important People of the [20th] Century."

He attended the UW.

Bruce Lee (whose real name was Jun Fan Lee) studied drama and philosophy at the UW from 1960 to 1963 and left before graduating, yet many are unaware of Lee's connection with the university.

Seeking to change that, this year 21 students in the CHID 496L focus group "Bruce Lee Dedication," are working to have a memorial to Lee installed on campus.

The class is based on the premise that Lee, an Asian-American who was raised in Hong Kong, would be more recognized as an alumnus if he were white. Thus, the class' project is also about combating the alleged inst-itutional racism many class members believe is part of the structure of the UW.

"There are professors that don't even know Bruce Lee went to the UW," Jamil Suleman said. "That there is a crime."

Suleman graduated in 2007 with a CHID degree. The class is his brainchild, and he is facilitating it on a volunteer basis.

The class will officially announce its plan at a press conference scheduled for Nov. 26 [HTML_REMOVED] which would be Lee's 67th birthday [HTML_REMOVED] at the Ethnic Cultural Theater at 1:30 p.m.

Members of "Bruce Lee Dedication" hope to persuade the UW administration to designate a piece of property on campus as a memorial for Lee. The Lee family would oversee the design and installment of the actual statue or structure.

"Bruce Lee Dedication" is one of many CHID focus groups this quarter.

Focus groups are two credit classes, graded as credit/no credit, that are designed and often led by students to explore topics not covered elsewhere in the UW curricula.

Other focus groups this quarter include "Religion and Conflict in Battlestar Galactica," "Queer Performance Poetry" and "Sex + Coffee = ???," which explores sexism in the coffee industry.

Suleman and several members of "Bruce Lee Dedication" are promoting Lee's memorial as a means to an end.

Class member Justin Camarata, a senior political science major, said that memorializing Lee is "a good place to start," but also said that "the issue really isn't about Bruce Lee; it's about beginning to provide an accurate representation of who we are as UW students.

In 2005, about 54 percent of incoming freshman identified as white. Suleman, however, said that not one non-white person is memorialized by a statue on campus.

Suleman noted that the lack of recognition of Lee as an alumnus is a glaring example of the fact that "white supremacy is a mainstay of the structure of the UW." Suleman said he does not really care whether or not a memorial to Lee is built, but that "the whole purpose of the class is to use Lee as a catalyst" to spur campus-wide discussions about institutional racism.

The administration has not commented on memorializing Lee or its perspective on specific claims of institutional racism. The class has not yet presented the administration with its proposition.

While not necessarily opposed to the agenda of their facilitator and some of their classmates, other students in the class see memorializing Lee as a worthy end itself.

Lee is widely revered for his successful and influential life and is a particularly important figure in Asian culture.

"We feel proud to relate to him (Lee)," said freshman Alanna Louie, whose parents were born in China.

Louie said that Lee's breakthrough into American popular culture is an inspiration to other Asian-Americans seeking success in the United States.

Lee was born in San Francisco in 1940 and grew up with his parents in Hong Kong, where he trained in various styles of martial arts. He moved to Seattle in 1959 and enrolled at the UW the following year.

While at the UW, Lee taught martial arts to several students and met his future wife, Linda Cadwell.

After leaving the UW, Lee taught and competed successfully in marital arts and began his acting career. He starred in several groundbreaking martial arts films and also wrote, directed and choreographed some of the films.

In 1973, Lee died mysteriously a few weeks before the release of his most acclaimed film, "Enter the Dragon." The film grossed some $90 million worldwide during its initial theatrical release and in 2004 was deemed "culturally significant" and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Lee is also an influential figure in fitness training, nutrition and philosophy. He drew on Taoism, Jiddu Krishnamurti and Buddhism, as well as other traditions to make philosophical assertions about fighting and life.

Erik Ho, a senior American Ethnic Studies major who self-identifies as half-Chinese and half-Japanese, said Lee broke existing stereotypes of Asian-American men as effeminate.

"He proved Asian-Americans could be masculine and tough," Ho said. "[He] also created more stereotypes as well, like the 'Kung Fu Fighter.'"

[Reach reporter Jacob Olson at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]