 "Photo: Caitlin Boake")
The South Asian Student Association (SASA) at UTD aims to unite the South Asian student community and provide education about South Asian culture. But mid-November found members of the newly founded group keenly focused on another unifying cultural force - the Mavericks.
"Even though the Dallas Mavericks are destined to win this rivalry as they have in past years, there are some skeptics (SASA Members from Houston) who believe that the Rockets still have a chance," said public relations officer Kevin Kalra, economics junior. "So come out, show support for your team and get ready for some friendly trash-talking."
President Neha Verma, finance junior, and vice president Divya Sajitharan, business administration sophomore, founded SASA at UTD after seeing the value of similar organizations at the University of North Texas and UT Austin.
"I know I would drive out to new places to go to their shows, tournaments and events, so why not bring it to UTD?" Verma said.
Verma said seeing the communities SASA groups helped build at other schools motivated her and Sajitharan to try to bring the same to UTD.
"We started talking about this last semester, but it took a while just to get it started. All of (the officers) have known each other," Verma said. "We all bring a different side. We're all from different countries in South Asia."
SASA has a broad focus because several other organizations serving the South Asian student community at UTD were based on individual religions and cultures, Verma said.
"We wanted to come up with an organization to bring everyone together and that also brought something new to campus," Verma said.
Kalra said SASA's main goals are to bring unity to the South Asian student population at UTD and to impact the Dallas-Fort Worth area through volunteer work and collaboration with other local SASA groups.
Kalra said SASA defines "South Asian" as the ethnicities and cultures of the geographic region south of the Himalayas, including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives.
SASA is open to all students at UTD, regardless of ethnicity or nationality.
Kalra said SASA leaders' immediate plans include game watching parties, such as the Mavericks versus Rockets event on Nov. 10, to create opportunities for members to interact.
Verma said increasing attendance at student events on campus is a long-term goal for the organization.
"I know we have talent shows and we have tournaments, but they're not at such a great scale that everyone's involved in them, so we're trying to bring that here," Verma said.
More than 25 people attended SASA's first meeting in the University Village Phase VIII clubhouse. Treasurer Jerry Thekkumkel, biology freshman, said the turnout can be credited to SASA's Facebook group. The group currently has more than 200 members and was SASA's first point of contact with the UTD community.
Future plans include a celebration of Holi in the spring and a bhangra hip-hop mixer.
"Just like how Diwali is more commonly known as 'The Festival of Lights,' Holi is a holiday known by many as 'The Festival of Colors,'" Kalra said. "Celebrating the holiday is both extremely fun and incredibly unique, as people throw colored powder and water at each other."
Bhangra, a native folk dance in the South Asian subcontinent, has evolved to include hip-hop beats and rhythms - a dynamic combination of new and old elements that Kalra said SASA hopes to emulate.
"We want to be able to unify people of different cultures, religions, values and ethnic ties," Kalra said.
For more information, e-mail utdsasa@gmail.com or join the Facebook group, "South Asian Student Association (SASA) at UT Dallas."
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