South Asian Student Association

"The South Asian Student Association (SASA) is an undergraduate student organization at the College of William and 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 and 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 Iqbal
 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 ‘14Historian: Sonia Talegaonkar ‘15Outreach Chair: Soumya Tippireddy ‘15Freshman Representative: Sudeep Kalkunte ‘16Expressions Co-Chair: Deepak Chitnis ‘13Expressions Co-Chair: Richa Patel ‘15NKD Co-Chair: Harmeet Kamboj ‘16NKD Co-Chair: Bindu Sagiraju ‘15

Material in the Special Collections Research Center

• Guide for conducting research related to the College of William & Mary
• South Asian Student Association in the SCRC database.
• 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 at [1].

References

• http://web.wm.edu/so/sasa/?svr=www, South Asian Student Association website, accessed on 4/6/2009.

Need help?

To search for further material, visit the Special Collections Research Center's Search Tool List for an overview of the Special Collections Database, W&M Digital Archive, Flat Hat-William & Mary News-Alumni Gazette index, card catalogs, and other tools available to help you find material of interest in William & Mary Libraries Special Collections Research Center.

Questions? Contact the Special Collections Research Center at spcoll@wm.edu or 757-221-3090, or visit the Special Collections Research Center in the Earl Gregg Swem Library at William & Mary.

A Note About The Contents Of This Wiki

The information available in this wiki is the best available from known documents and 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. Information in this wiki is not complete as new information continues to be uncovered in Swem Library's Special Collections Research Center and elsewhere. Researchers are strongly encouraged to use the Special Collections search tools for their research as the information contained in this wiki is by no means comprehensive.