The Korean Students Association had their first general meeting on the day of the involvement fair (September 19^th), in the Student Activities Center . Based on attendance, this year will be a successful one for them, as the first meeting attracted many people; the room was filled with freshmen who were curious about the organization. The new KSA President, Jean Cho, gave a brief introduction of KSA. The new Vice President, Yoon Hwan Moon, went over a list of events KSA is planning to have. Some of the upcoming events KSA is planning include a cruise in New York City , and a barbeque at a local park. The cruise is an annual fall event, which attracts even non-members. Other events they announced were a sports tournament and a ski trip, which would occur during the winter break. The e-board also talked about the Korean Night in the spring semester, which is the flagship event of the club. They asked the attendees to try out for various facets of K-Night, including dance, singing, and a movie. They closed the meeting by playing last year’s movie made for K-Night.

The South Asian Students Alliance also held their first meeting on the same day, September 19^th. SASA is devoted to, in the words of their events coordinator, Irfaan Ramzan, “uniting people.” They are planning a multitude of events to accomplish this goal. The new SASA President, Melissa Shah, spoke to an entire auditorium full of students interested in one of the largest groups on campus. Did I mention that there was Indian food served at the meeting?  Due to the large numbers of South Asian students on campus, as well as the free food, one would expect a large turnout. Indeed, the first SASA meeting was arguably one of the largest meetings of any club on campus, filling up much of the Union Auditorium. How will SASA unite these students, all coming from very different backgrounds? It can accomplish this through events like Sholay, which brings together dancers, singers, musicians, and other students with unique talents from the South Asian community. Whether participants are performing a traditional bhajan or a modern Bollywood dance, an event like Sholay has something for everyone. Another big part of uniting people comes from a fraternity associated with SASA: Sigma Beta Rho, a national fraternity that acts as a brotherhood for young South Asian men. Sigma Beta Rho showed a brief video at the first meeting that was designed to be cryptic. They also briefly spoke about the fraternity and its mission. The dance group Thillana spoke about their plans for the semester as well. With exciting meetings like this one, it seems SASA will not have trouble bringing together hundreds of students once again, with or without free food.