Students show how to celebrate Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month.

In 1977, Congress designated May for Asian-Pacific Heritage Week. In 2016, the students of CSU Monterey Bay’s Asian Pacific Islander Association (APIA) have finals in May, so they moved the whole thing up to April.

The nine events, happening April 20-29, look like a rich and jovial affair – with some conversation on weighty matters – full of food, music, learning and ohana (family) hailing from Hawaii, Micronesia, Japan, Laos, India, Philippines, North and South Korea and elsewhere.

A good introduction arrives with the APIA Showcase at the Student Center’s East Lounge (6-8pm April 25), where guests can do crafts like origami, fan-making and henna painting amid snacks, student performances (including by the Asian Pacific Islander dance team from Hartnell College) and tables repping different countries of the APIA.

While all that is going on, the Associated Students present young Filipino-American singing group Filharmonic, who perform 7-9pm at the University Center. They stepped in front of big audiences on NBC’s The Sing-Off and the hit movie Pitch Perfect 2 – check out their song “Flashlight” on YouTube and you’ll see (and hear) why.

From noon-4pm on April 26 at the Main Quad, APIA is throwing a Holi Festival. That’s the Indian and Nepalese celebration where people greet the spring season by throwing colored powders into the air until revelers are coated. Here, APIA provides the plant – and flower-based powders and connects it to its roots.

The campus’ awesome Dining Commons, 5-8pm on April 28, hosts the annual Luau, featuring mahi-mahi, roasted pig and multicultural performances.

But it’s not all just “It’s a Small World After All” platitudes.

“There are similarities that countries share and bond over, but sometimes unity is just not there and that is OK and should be respected,” says Matt Menor, environmental science student and president of the APIA. Some Pacific Islanders, for instance, do not identify as Asian.

Which brings us to some of the more weighty matters. The “Let’s Talk About That” event (2-4pm April 29 at CSUMB Library, room 1180) is billed as a “dialogue” that confronts slurs like wink (Asiatic eyes) and burnt rice (dark-skinned Asians), and stereotypes like the model minority and the yellow peril (those latter two collide in the lawsuit by Students for Fair Admissions against Harvard, which charges top universities discriminate against Asians.)

As an introduction, as a gathering and celebration, and as an educational supplement, this looks like an series casting light on cultures already closely intertwined with that of the United States. The message seems to be: We can be closer.

ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER MONTH runs various times April 20-29 at CSU Monterey Bay, Seaside. Free. https://csumb.edu/oc3/asian-pacific-islander-american-heritage-month.