Graduation is right around the corner, and some students are coming together to plan a more intimate ceremony focused on their cultural heritage.
Students are trying to plan a graduation ceremony specifically for students of South Asian and Middle Eastern descent or those interested in celebrating those cultures.
The organizers of the event are calling it SAMEGrad, or South Asian Middle Eastern Graduation. Sona Doshi, a fourth-year biology student and one of the cofounders of SAMEGrad, said they just put down the deposit for Korn Hall at the UCLA Anderson School of Management on June 15 at 2 p.m.
Doshi said they are trying to coordinate this event to honor the achievements of South Asian and Middle Eastern students.
“We’re a very unique cultural group, and I think we have a lot of our own accomplishments that aren’t shared with the majority of students on this campus,” Doshi said.
Representatives from other student groups are excited about the prospect of this coming together in time for graduation this June. Sheetal Shukla, the president of the Indian Student Union and fourth-year molecular, cell and developmental biology student, said many other cultures get a private graduation, and she feels there should be one to honor South Asians and Middle Easterners.
“I think that we have a very diverse and rich culture, and it’d be nice to be celebrated once in a while,” Shukla said. Saad Shaikh, a fourth-year business economics student and one of the cofounders of the event, said he and the rest of the organizers are really looking forward to implementing ideas from other students for the ceremony.
“It’d be all their ideas. … We want to put together a video, give out plaques, have awards, etc.,” Shaikh said.
SAMEGrad is having a meeting this afternoon to discuss ideas for the ceremony.
All students are welcome to attend and share their thoughts at 5 p.m. in Kerckhoff 133.
Shaikh got the idea for a special graduation from friends at UC Davis. A SAMEGrad event has taken place there for the past two years. He said he hopes it goes well this year and becomes a yearly event for UCLA.
“We definitely want to make it a good event, because we want to make it an annual tradition for years to come,” Shaikh said.
Shukla said she thinks students will be very interested in participating in SAMEGrad.
“I think if there’s a concrete plan, it shouldn’t be a problem to get participation,” Shukla said.
Shaikh said he has heard a lot of feedback from fellow South Asian students, but hopes more students will get involved from other cultures.
“We’re trying to invite members of the outside community, and we’re trying to have a fair and balanced event in terms of all the cultures,” Shaikh said.
Kasra Kokabi, the vice chairman of the Iranian Student Group and fourth-year accounting and business economics student, said he is unsure as to whether he wants to get involved with yet another graduation ceremony.
“The fact is that a lot of students are already going to three different grad ceremonies. Just to add another one seems kind of redundant,” Kokabi said.
Doshi said they are just hoping to put together someone special that graduating seniors and their families and friends will enjoy.
“We want to give them something they can walk away with, something with a lot of memory attached to it. Something besides their diploma,” Doshi said.