How Lecturer Wally Suphap Turned His Three-Degree Columbia Journey Into a Legacy for LGBTQ+ Students

Before he taught the art of the story, Wally Suphap (CC’01, LAW’04, SOA’23) had to live out the twists and turns of a narrative arc in his own life and career.

Born in Bangkok, raised in L.A., and shaped by a 15-year legal career in Hong Kong, Suphap is no stranger to the winding path. It is that path that has led him back, time after time, to Columbia University. 

He first found himself on College Walk as a transfer, searching for belonging as a closeted undergraduate at Columbia College. Then, as a law student finding himself in the queer community, and finally as a writer, educator, and community builder. Today, Suphap is a Lecturer in the Discipline of English and Comparative Literature in Columbia’s undergraduate writing program, helping students unearth the stories they need to tell and infusing those same students with the courage to tell them.

“I came to Columbia having a one-track mind, I was sure about being pre-law,” Suphap said. “I wanted to become a hotshot lawyer. And then I got to be and I realized, ‘Okay, this is great, but there’s more out there.’ I knew the best place that would allow me to have that career pivot would be to come back to Columbia. It is the place that has allowed me to have a fluid career and stay open to opportunities.”

Did we mention that Suphap is also the Vice President of Columbia Pride, the official organization supporting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) and allied alumni of all schools of Columbia University? It was through Suphap’s dedicated work that the University has a Columbia Pride Scholarship, which was launched in 2020 to support LGBTQ+ student leaders at Columbia College.

Columbia News recently sat down with Suphap to talk about his Columbia journey, exploring one’s creative self, and the legacy he is building here for LGBTQ+ students.

How did you initially find yourself at Columbia and what kept you coming back?

I'm a city boy through and through. I was born in Bangkok, grew up in Los Angeles, and worked as a lawyer for 15 years in Hong Kong. I thrive in places where the arts, multiculturalism, and globalism are celebrated.

My first year of college was in an isolated Midwestern town. It was a strong institution, but it wasn’t for me. As a closeted, queer Asian kid, I struggled to find a sense of belonging.

The moment I stepped onto College Walk as a transfer student, I felt at home. That global, interdisciplinary energy kept me here. I stayed for law school and returned years later for my MFA in writing. Now I teach first-year students in the English and Comparative Literature department, as well as creative nonfiction.

Did you always know you were a writer?

I grew up an avid reader. My mom, a single parent, ran a Thai restaurant in L.A., and after school, I’d spend hours there reading, probably a book a day. I devoured John Grisham novels, which is probably what sparked my interest in the law. I saw what my mom went through, the sweat and toil of the restaurant world, and thought: that’s not the life I want. Books showed me the possibilities.

But after 15 years practicing law, I realized I was still searching for a deeper sense of purpose. I discovered later on that my passion was literature and writing. The teaching part is giving back. Encouraging other people to tell their stories is why I wanted to become an educator.

How did you get your start?

Before applying to the MFA, I enrolled in Columbia’s School of Professional Studies to audit creative writing classes. I tried poetry, fiction, nonfiction—everything. I had incredible professors who showed me the possibilities of storytelling, especially telling real stories about real people and communities. That’s when I thought: "Literary nonfiction is the genre for me.

I came to see writing, like the law, as an expansive tool for making small interventions: sifting through our own thoughts and lived experiences through the drafting process and then releasing them into the larger world.

I always think back to that James Baldwin quote:

“You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can’t, but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world. The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way people look at reality, then you can change it…”

What was the piece you worked on where you thought, ‘yes, writing is for me?’

I recently published a personal essay about the story of my Mom’s restaurant and being raised as a “restaurant kid.” The arc of it was growing up ashamed to tell my friends about the restaurant for fear they might actually show up, but now I really appreciate it. It was an ode to the restaurant, to my Mom, and to my late Grandmother. It is called “Fortune House,” named after the restaurant, which still exists to this day.

I’m currently working to build out the essay into a book-length memoir. As research for the project, I’ve been interviewing other restaurant kids around the country, and it’s amazing discovering the connections in our experiences—and how growing up as a restaurant kid has molded our enduring relationship to food, family, and fortune. 

Read "Fortune House," here, published in Solstice.

How did you come to be involved with Columbia Pride?

After the success of a professional network I’d helped launch, I started thinking about how I could support this kind of work at Columbia as well. As an alum, I would get requests for donations. I saw they had not just a general fund, but there were also funds for different groups, like a Women’s Scholarship Fund or a Black Student Scholarship Fund. I reached out to the alumni office and asked if there was an LGBTQ scholarship fund and if I could donate to it. They said for whatever reason it never got off the ground, so I ran with it. 

That fund has now been active for about four or five years. It provides both full and partial scholarships to Columbia College students who demonstrate leadership and support on LGBTQ+ issues on campus and in the wider community.

Today, I serve as Vice President of Columbia Pride, and it’s a privilege to be part of this team, led by our incredible president, Jose Ricardo Moreno. It is great to be able to interact with both alums as well as current students. A lot of us are doing this because we want to ensure that queer students at Columbia feel that sense of community and are supported.

Do you remember what it felt like to finally receive that kind of support yourself?

I remember being in law school, and there was an LGBTQ+ student group called the OutLaws. I had a lot of friends involved who encouraged me to join, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I was so focused on becoming a “successful lawyer,” and at the time, that seemed incompatible with being out. There were so few openly queer partners in law firms back then. 

Looking back, I wish I had taken the opportunity to be more involved. So in a way, this work now is my attempt to right those past wrongs of self-censorship. I hope no student has to feel what I felt. 

What are some of the ways Columbians can get involved or find support through Columbia Pride?

Start by signing up for our newsletter, the best way to stay updated on events happening across our chapters nationwide. If you’re able, contribute to the scholarship fund, which directly supports access to education.

Be an active ally. That might mean listening more, showing up, staying informed about what’s happening legally and culturally, and sharing LGBTQ+ stories within your circles. 

And if you're local, join us at the NYC Pride March on June 29.

What exceptional writing are you planning to read this summer?

I recently attended the book launch of Clam Down, a memoir by Columbia faculty member Anelise Chen. She teaches in the MFA program and leads the undergraduate creative writing program. The book is told from the perspective of a mollusk and I can't wait to dive in.

I also picked up Ocean Vuong’s new novel, The Emperor of Gladness. When I returned to campus in 2020, right before the COVID shutdown, I stopped by the Columbia bookstore for the first time in over a decade and saw On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, which is one of my favorites. I remember thinking, "he’s telling the stories I wish I’d read growing up."

What advice do you share with students looking to share their unique perspective through writing?

Explore and play. Try everything: genres, styles, structures. You won’t know what you love until you experiment. And chances are, you don’t even know all the forms that are out there yet. Get exposure to as many different works and faculty members as you can. Columbia does have it all. 

Also, remember: the very things that might make you feel like an outsider might be your greatest advantage. I’m talking about queerness, but also being from an immigrant family, or being a non-native English speaker. You have a perspective that others don't. That is your superpower.