About Us
The Union of Vietnamese Student Associations of the Midwest (UVSA-Midwest) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan, community-based organization that was founded in 2007 as a means for Vietnamese youth organizations from across the Midwest region to network with one another, share common resources, develop leadership skills, and collaborate on philanthropic projects. UVSA-Midwest is committed to empowering emerging youth leaders within the Vietnamese community while preserving and promoting the Vietnamese culture. Servicing the Vietnamese-American community in the Midwest, UVSA-Midwest works as an partnership organization and collaborates with individual student associations and other related Vietnamese community-based organizations to conduct events and initiatives. We organize conferences and summits with a focus on leadership building, cultural awareness and identity, social and community advocacy on issues affecting the Vietnamese community in addition to the Collective Philanthropy Project (CPP).
Our Logo
Designed by our very own Secretary and Branding Director, Anthony Phan, along with the members of the UVSA-Midwest Branding Team: Logo Division, Tyson Banh, Huyen Alyssa Vo, Angeline Ngo, Cosima Le, and Mickey Tran, this logo and the Branding Project as a whole was started in the summer of 2021 as an initiative to rebrand UVSA-Midwest's look to match its evolution into a new era.
Lotus: A traditional symbol of Vietnam, the lotus flower represents commitment and optimism as it sprouts from the muddy waters of Vietnam's lakes and ponds. Here, it represents our commitment to providing a safe community for Vietnamese-American, Vietnamese, and Vietnamese-Interest students of the Midwest and beyond.
4 Quadrants: The four quadrants of lotus petals represent our four pillars: Community, Leadership, Activism, and Philanthropy.
Compass: At the center of the lotus is a crossing of two axes, representing the four cardinal directions of North, East, South, and West. It symbolizes our central location on the North American continent and how we are the geographic central region amongst the UVSAs.
Converging lines: The curving lines of the lotus petals all meet towards the middle, mimicking the lines of driving routes, train tracks, and flight paths of our members traveling multiple hours to meet up at our flagship events. In the Midwest, we pride ourselves on our commitment to drive upwards of 13 hours to show up and support our community!
Hidden U, V, S, A, M, and W: When tracing the many curves of the lotus, you can make out the letters of our organization, spelling out UVSA-MW.
Circle: As homage to our previous logo, we have encased the lotus in a circle to symbolize unity in community. At the end of the day, even though we come from all directions and live far away from each other, we are all part of one community.