Intercollegiate Chinese for Social Action

The Intercollegiate Chinese for Social Action (ICSA) was a student organization formed in 1967 at San Francisco State College (now San Francisco State University). The group organized various community-oriented events and service projects, particularly in the Chinatown community in San Francisco. In 1968, the ICSA joined the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF), a coalition of different student groups advocating for campus reform at SFSU. The ICSA also actively protested traditional Chinese leadership, in particular the Six Companies in San Francisco.

The ICSA was formed in 1967, composed mainly of middle-class, US-born, Chinese American students. The majority were second-generation, had immigrant parents, and were first-generation college students. Most of their parents worked lower-paying jobs in restaurants, small local businesses, or clothing factories, but were still able to provide comfortable, middle-class life-styles for their children. Through an active recruitment program, the ICSA reached out to and recruited students from San Francisco Chinatown to expand its membership.

The ICSA started out as a community service oriented organization. They founded the Community Internship Program, where students at San Francisco State College were recruited to volunteer for local San Francisco Chinatown organizations, such as the War on Poverty office, a federal government program. Members of the ICSA also engaged in academic tutoring and taught English to first-generation students and families in Chinatown. Later, through funding from the San Francisco State College’s Associated Student Government, the ICSA set up a youth center in San Francisco Chinatown.

The Third World Liberation Front (TWLF) was a coalition of various minority student organizations at SFSC that pressed for campus reform. Specifically, they criticized the lack of ethnic studies and the lack of diversity at the college. The ICSA was originally introduced to the TWLF when an ICSA member accidentally walked into a TWLF protest. He was later approached by members of the Black Student Union, who were impressed with his perceived militancy and asked him to join the TWLF.

The ICSA was at first reluctant to join both because of the TWLF's perceived radicalism and because they did not view it as directly contributing to their goals and mission. The ICSA had two main concerns. First, they thought did not think that the TWLF would benefit Chinese people directly. This was later resolved when they realized that the TWLF had similar goals of increasing minority representation in colleges through "counseling, tutoring service, and special admission." The second concern that they had was that joining the TWLF would shift away resources from working with the Chinatown community. The decision as to whether to join the TWLF split the organizations into two factions. Eventually, there was a leadership change. Mason Wong was elected chair of the organization, and the ICSA officially joined the TWLF in Spring 1968.

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