Scientist Society:
Once a month, Scientist Society brings in researchers via online calls from the top 25 universities to talk about their scientific research.
“A lot of [students] are interested in biology or chemistry or physics, so that’s the three main things we look for in researchers.” FHS senior and President of Scientist Society Claire Chapelle said. “We try to include a wide range of sciences so that everybody can see the new research and maybe see what they are interested in.”
On Nov. 7, 2025, Asuka Eguchi from the Eguchi Lab at UC Irvine presented about therapeutic treatments for heart failure and how induced pluripotent stem cells can be used to create treatments for damaged heart tissues.
Jewish Student Union:
Jewish Student Union (JSU) holds weekly meetings to celebrate Jewish holidays, talk about important events in Israel and educate people about the culture and religion of Jews.
“We like to go with speakers that are not Jewish to create a diverse setting, and we typically choose to make it about their life story,” FHS junior and JSU Vice President Mia Katz said.
Luai Ahmed was scheduled to speak on Nov. 3, 2025. He was going to discuss his journalism career as well as his life growing up in Yemen as a gay Arab Muslim. His speech was canceled due to safety concerns, according to FUHSD. In addition to FUHSD, both Alameda and Lowell High Schools canceled his speech.
“Some have asserted that the decision to postpone was to silence a pro-Israel perspective; others are claiming victory for keeping what they describe as an anti-Palestinian speaker out of our schools,” Alameda school district superintendent said in an official statement.
“I think that it’s disrespectful,” Katz said. “I believe that his story was meant to bring everyone closer together. He was only here to talk about his personal story, nothing to do with any kind of politics.”
According to the email sent by Superintendent Graham Clark, the district received around 2,000 emails regarding allowing Ahmed to be a guest speaker, many in favor of him speaking and many against. The district is exploring measures to prevent similar conflicts surrounding guest speakers from happening.
“Are all [guest speakers] the same? Are they all going to have the same level of interest, anger, antipathy?” FHS principal Brian Emmert said. “What [the district is] starting to work on is [deciding how] we make decisions around whether we let any speaker a club wants to bring come so that going forward we have a better idea of how we determine what’s safe and what’s not.”
The Jewish Community Advocacy Council is now suing FUHSD, claiming that the district is engaging in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.
Chinese Club:
Chinese Club meets every Wednesday to discuss Chinese culture, celebrate holidays and eat food. On Sept. 24, 2025, guest speaker Brenda Wong came to introduce the Chinese Historical and Cultural Project (CHCP). This nonprofit aims to promote, educate and preserve Chinese and Chinese American history and culture through community outreach activities.
One of the ways CHCP preserves tradition is through the Chinese American Historical Museum (CAHM), which has a long history in San Jose. The Ng Shing Gung was built in San Jose’s Heinlenville Chinatown in 1888 and served as a community center and a hostel, as well as housing an altar. Most of Heinlenville’s residents had moved on by the 1930s, and the Chinese Exclusion Act prevented new arrivals from China. This led the estate to declare bankruptcy and become the City of San Jose’s property. In 1949, despite objections of local historians, the remaining bits of Heinlenville were torn apart.
