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South Asian Student Association

"The South Asian Student Association (SASA) is an undergraduate student organization at William & Mary dedicated to promoting cultural identity, unity and awareness in the college community and among its members. It is one of the College's multicultural organizations, consisting of members with heritage from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and other South Asian countries, and members with an interest in learning about South Asian culture. The South Asian Student Association was previously known as the Indian Cultural Association (ICA). ICA was founded by students Abita Sachdev ('93) and Raxa Desai ('92) in 1991. ICA was renamed SASA in 2002 to better represent its members.

Main Objectives of the Organization

  • Educate the William & Mary community about South Asian heritage through educational, charitable, and social events
  • Encourage students to learn, experience and continue South Asian culture
  • Present forums to address critical issues that pertain to South Asian students living in the United States
  • Provide a nurturing and positive atmosphere for members of the College community interested in learning more about South Asian culture

Executive Board and Membership

1991 - 1992

32 members

  • Co-Presidents: Abita Sachdev, Raxa Desai
  • Treasurer: Soumya Viswanathan
  • Secretary: Saroj Sheshadri
  • Publicity Chair: Brian Caton
  • Social Committee: Shefali Sharma, Nadini Koka

1992 - 1993

42 members

  • President: Abita Sachdev
  • Vice President: Soumya Viswanathan
  • Treasurer: Fiasal Riaz
  • Secretary: Shawn Sharma
  • Asian Student Union, Representative: Nidhi Singh
  • Publicity Chair: Saroj Sheshadri
  • Social Chair: Jaya Chimnani

1993 - 1994

28 members

1994 - 1995

57 members

1995 - 1996

61 members

  • President: Dharmesh Vashee
  • Treasurer: Rafay Alam
  • Secretary: Harshad Daswani
  • Publicity: Sarah Watson
  • Asian Student Union, Representatives: Kaustuv Chakrabarti, Crisha Chachra
  • Social Chair: Nisha Rao

1996 - 1997

83 members

1997 - 1998

58 members

  • President: Maria Igbal
  • Vice President: Arti Shah
  • Secretary: Taha Haidermota
  • Treasurer: Pamela Kanal
  • Publicity: Gazala Ashraf, Rabia Tajuddin
  • Historian: Sarah Watson

1998 - 1999

  • President: Kulwant Singh

2001 - 2002

  • President: Davina Vaswani
  • Officers: Hamza Azim, Joshbeen Grewal, Martha-Alice Kiger, Nirav Mehta, Kishor Nagula, Nisha Patel, Rehana Raza, Amola Shertukde

2002 - 2003

  • President: Harsha Nagaraja
  • VP: Rehana Raza
  • Secretary: Nisha Patel
  • Treasurer: Palak Oza
  • Publicity: Dnyanesh Kamat
  • Historians: Nirav Mehta, Ahsan Iqbal
  • Webmaster: Devang Patel

2003 - 2004

  • President: Davina Vaswani
  • VP: Harsha Nagaraja
  • Secretary: Amol Patel
  • Treasurer: Palak Oza
  • Publicity Chairs: Amola Shertukde, Vivek Ramakrishnan
  • Webmaster: Devang Patel
  • Social Chairs: Neha Patodia, Richa Gandhi, Historian: Shivani Desai
  • Freshman Rep: Nadina Perera
  • Webmaster: Devang Patel

2004 - 2005

  • President: Etaf Khan
  • VP: Shivani Desai
  • Treasurer: Richa Gandhi
  • Secretary: Amol Patel
  • Social Chair: Meera Doraiswamy
  • Public Relations: Akshay Jakatdat, Krishnan Vasudevan

2012 - 2013

  • President: Prateek Reddy '13
  • Vice President: Pratik Thakral '13
  • Secretary: Nuha Naqvi '15
  • Treasurer: Sitara Sundar '15
  • Social Chair: Konark Bhasin '14
  • Public Relations Co-Chair: Hareesh Nagaraj '15
  • Public Relations Co-Chair: Shyam Menon '14
  • Historian: Sonia Talegaonkar '15
  • Outreach Chair: Soumya Tippireddy '15
  • Freshman Representative: Sudeep Kalkunte '16
  • Expressions Co-Chair: Deepak Chitnis '13
  • Expressions Co-Chair: Richa Patel '15
  • NKD Co-Chairs: Harmeet Kamboj '16, Bindu Sagiraju '15

2021 - 2022

  • Internal President: Abhishek Goel
  • External President: Sreya Mallipeddi
  • Finance Chair: Roshnica Gurung
  • Social Chair: Daiwik Munjwani 
  • Social Chair: Nicki Ganti
  • Public Relations Chair: Sindu Shanmugadas
  • Public Relations Chair: Nitu Girish Mohan
  • Expressions Co-Chair: Avishka Boppudi
  • Expressions Co-Chair: Easha Qasba

2022 - 2023

  • Internal President: Divya Sharma '24
  • External President: Adam Razaq '23
  • Treasurer: Devanshu Saxena '25
  • Social Chair: Anjali Goel '23
  • Social Chair: Pranay Dhawan '25
  • Public Relations Chair: Ranjani Krishnan '25
  • Culture Chair: Hazel Vineet '25
  • Outreach Chair: Ritvik Annadi '25
  • Freshman Liaison: Arya Rajesh '26
  • Freshman Liaison: Surya Raghav '26

Annual Events

Expressions

Expressions is SASA's largest annual performance and entertainment night which occurs every year in the fall semester. ICA began hosting the Expressions Night to celebrate Indian culture with Indian food and entertainment. SASA expanded Expressions Night to include celebration of cultures from South Asia in 2002.

  • 1994 - "Expressions of India: An Evening of Indian Food and Entertainment" on Oct. 22, 7 p.m. in Tidewater
  • 1996 - "Expressions of India: An Evening of Indian Food and Entertainment" on Nov. 9, 7 p.m. in Chesapeake
  • 1997 - "Expressions of India: An Evening of Indian Food and Entertainment" on Nov. 15, 7 p.m. in Trinkle Hall
  • 1998 - "Expressions of India: An Evening of Indian Food and Entertainment" on Nov. 7 in Chesapeake
  • 1999 - "Expressions of India: An Evening of Indian Food and Entertainment" on Nov. 12 in Chesapeake
  • 2001 - "Expressions of India: An Evening of Indian Food and Entertainment" on Nov. 9
  • 2002 - "Expressions: A Celebration of Cultures from South Asia"
  • 2007 - "Expressions: A Balancing Act"
  • 2011 - "Expressions: The Princess and the Frog Goa Edition" on Nov. 11 in Commonwealth

Nach Ke Dikha (NKD)

Nach Ke Dikha is an annual intercollegiate Bhangra & Fusion Dance Competition hosted by SASA and William & Mary. SASA began hosting NKD in 2011.

Mock Mehndi

Mock Mehndi is SASA's mock wedding reception. All across South Asia wedding receptions are celebrated with lots of music, good food, colorful decorations and cultural outfits. SASA hopes to bring this experience to W&M. Mock Mehndi began in 2021. 

Material in the Special Collections Research Center

  • The Flat Hat student newspaper; search the index available in the SCRC by person's name, student group name, event, or topical heading
  • Colonial Echo yearbook

References

 

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A note about the contents of this site

This website contains the best available information from known sources at the time it was written. Unfortunately, many of the early original records of William & Mary were destroyed by fires, military occupation, and the normal effects of time. The information in this website is not complete, and it changes as we continue to research and uncover new sources.