South Asian Society

By: Neha Seenarine

Students can find Quinnipiac University’s South Asian Society putting on multiple events throughout the academic year, from celebrating Diwali to a Bollywood Fest featuring dance performances. In addition, the organization welcomes anyone from the Quinnipiac community to celebrate South Asian culture.

“Even if you’re not South Asian, you’re welcome to come,” said Kripa Patel, the president of South Asian Society. “ It’s not just for people that are in South Asian Society, and I think that makes people more comfortable coming more and more; we like (to see) a diverse audience every time.”

Kripa Patel, a senior health science studies major, said having community members participate in South Asian Society’s events allows them to learn more about the culture.

“Our goal is to not exactly teach people like (teaching) in the classroom, but have people participate and join us in the events that we host and in our celebrations,” Kripa Patel said. “In that way, they learn a little bit about our culture, because I also do think a lot of times, for even for multicultural orgs here, that there’s a misconception that it’s someone else’s job to teach someone else.”

South Asian Society Vice President Megha Patel described coming to the organization’s events as a way to embrace South Asian culture.

“If you were to come to our movie night, you’d see (our culture) through cinema, or if you were coming to Garba or Diwali, you’d see (the culture) through the various folk dances,” said Megha Patel, a senior accounting major.

The South Asian Society allows members to practice their cultural traditions when students are away from home.

“It’s important if you’ve grown up dressing in cultural clothes, and dancing and things like that — If there’s a way for you to continue that through an organization, I think that makes people really happy,” Megha Patel said.