Sikh Student Associations (SSA)

Sikh Student Associations exist in at least 50 colleges and universities across United States. Many of these associations have existed for a number of years, others are in their initial stages of existence. Some have over 50 members, whereas others may only have 5.

The Sikh Coalition started its SSA Campaign in 2003 and has been developing its SSA projects and initiatives with the help of several volunteers and the SSA's themselves.

The Coalition:

• Has run two national education campaigns by providing SSAs across the nation with education packets
• Helped in the formation of several SSAs.
• Supports SSA initiatives by providing educational material, coordinating speakers and participating in SSA activities.
• Helps SSAs communicate with each other, and create a cohesive network.
• Features an “SSA of the month” in its newsletter and shares information about SSA activities with Sikhs across the nation and world

For more information about the SSA campaign, to add your SSA to the Coalition list, and for information about volunteer opportunities, please contact ssa@sikhcoalition.org.

Coalition Education Packets

Sikh Awareness Packet, April 2004

The objective was to provide SSAs with a complete resources packet that equips them to conduct Sikh Awareness programs on their campuses. These programs present information about the Sikh faith and serves as an introduction to Sikh ideas and institutions.

Sikh Student Associations across North America first used the packet in the month of Vaisakhi, April. A typical Sikh Awareness Day included a combination of informative and interactive events. Several brochures and flyers were also handed out on college campuses.

List of SSAs that participated in April, 2004 program:

• Boston University
• Columbia University
• Cornell University
• New Jersey Institute of Technology
• New York University
• Trinity University
• Stonybrook University
• University of California, Davis
• University of California, Riverside
• University of California, San Diego
• University of Chicago
• University of Florida
• University of Illinois, Urbana Champagne
• University of Maryland
• University of Michigan
• University of North Carolina
• University of Oregon
• Virginia Commonwealth University
• Wayne State University

"1984 - 20 Years Later" Packet, October 2004

2004 marked the twentieth anniversary of the November 1984 anti-Sikh Pogroms in Delhi and the rest of India. The Sikh Coalition and Sikh Student Associations around North America partnered to launch a 1984 Remembrance and Awareness Program. The aim of this program was for members of the SSA and the general university body to learn about and remember the events of recent Sikh history. The Coalition provided SSA’s with a ready to go packet that included materials to carry out this program. 

A few of the SSAs that participated in the November Program:

• Columbia University, NY
• Northwestern University, IL
• Rutgers University, NJ
• University of California at Riverside, CA
• University of Chicago, IL
• Wayne State University, MI
• New Jersey Institute of Technology, NJ
• Stony Brook University, NY
• Babson College, MA
• George Washington University, DC

SSA of the Month

Recently the Coalition has began to highlight the activities of various SSA's across the nation. Below is a selection of a few of the highlighted SSA's. (Wayne State, Stonybrook, and Trinity University)

Featured Sikh Student Association of the Month: Wayne State University
Sikh Coalition Newsletter, December, 2004

Educational Activities

• Screening of "Mistaken Identity of Sikhs in America" on 14th April, 2003 attended by over 150 people;
• Creation and display of showcase on Sikhism at school student center from October 9 th to 13 th 2003;
• Organized Gatka demonstration attended by over three hundred people, November 25, 2003.
• Organized Nagar Kirtan and Langar, April 14, 2004. Over 300 people attended Nagar Kirtan and local news channel covered it and university paper covered it.

  Community Affairs Activities

• Participation in Detroit area "Paint the Town" volunteer work, August, 9 2003;
• Participation in "Greening of Detroit" volunteer work, October 4, 2003;
• Participation in Interfaith National Day of Prayer, May 6, 2004;
• Participation in Detroit area “Paint the Town” volunteer work August 14, 2004;

Internal Development Activities

• Organized "Mark of Excellence" one day oriented towards the self-development of Sikh students while facing life’s daily challenges, October 12, 2003.
• Organized screening of 1984 remembrance screening of movie clips in local gurdwara, November 14, 2004.

Featured Sikh Student Association of the Month: Stony Brook SSA
Sikh Coalition Newsletter, March, 2005

This month’s featured Sikh Student Association (SSA) is the Sikh Student Association at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Started during Vaisakhi 2004, the organization has sustained tremendous growth during its first year. There are 15 active members and many other members of many religions and cultures who attend SSA programs. 

The SSA was launched with a "Sikh Awareness Banquet" attended by over 200 members of the university community in which the Coalition’s Legal Director was a key speaker. The group also held a Diversity Day Program last semester in which the members tied turbans on participating students of the Stony Brook community. Dozens of students participated in the Diversity Day program.

This semester, Stony Brook SSA plans to organize langars and another Sikh Awareness Banquet from which all proceeds will benefit tsunami disaster relief charities.  The Coalition commends the Stony Brook SSA for its hard work to promote understanding and respect for diversity in the university community.

SSA members tied dastaars on fellow students, including the school mascot!

Students Creating Awareness of the Sikh Faith (SCASF), Trinity Univ., TX
Sikh Coalition Newsletter, January, 2005

This month’s featured SSA ----Trinty Univeristy’s Students Creating Awareness of the Sikh Faith (SCASF) ---- has the distinction of perhaps being the only Sikh student organization whose officers are mostly non-Sikhs. Three out of four of SCASF’s officers are not Sikhs. Nevertheless, as the list of its activities over the past semester demonstrates, SCASF may be one of the most active Sikh student organizations in the United States:

September 2004 -Dialogue on Race and Religion: A Social Experiment of Sikh Identity

One weekend, two groups of student volunteers walked around different parts of San Antonio while wearing turbans. The following Monday, a discussion was organized, in which the volunteers shared their experiences and reactions they encountered from other people while wearing the turban.

October 2004 - Tie a Turban Day

Members of the local Sikh community tied turbans on Trinity students, faculty, and staff. They distributed literature on the significance of the turban, and took digital pictures of all participants as a momento of their unique experience.

November 2004 - 'Remember 1984'

SCASF organized a week of awareness and commemoration of the tens of thousands of Sikhs that were massacred in India twenty years ago. The week was comprised of a candlelight vigil, an informational booth and display, and a panel discussion. 'Remember 1984' featured a lecture by executive director of ENSAAF and author of 'Reduced to Ashes' and 'Twenty Years of Impunity,' Jaskaran Kaur. The unreleased movie 'Amu,' produced by Shonali Bose, was also screened for the student population.

November 2004

Trinity student Darsh Preet Singh represented the Sikh faith in the Trinity Multicultural Network's interfaith dialogue entitled 'A Light on Faith.'

December 2004