The Bangladesh Students Association at Illinois State University strives to accommodate, educate and include students that are interested in learning about Bangladeshi culture on campus.
Current BSA president Shuvro Saha said this organization was founded in 2015 with the help of dedicated Bangladeshi students and a series of International Fairs.
Saha recounted that in 2012, ISU student Sifat Sharmin worked with host family Margaret and Jack Archibald to organize BSA’s showcase for the fairs held in 2013 and 2014. These events gathered BSA enough attention and resources to transform a plan to a reality.
“Since 2015, the BSA community has continued to grow and help students organize various events. We received a major boost in 2018 and 2019 after organizing multiple successful events throughout the years with increased funding, which helped us to conduct our events on a larger scale,” Saha said.
BSA holds events such as the Bangladeshi Food Festival and International Mother Language Day in addition to celebrating the first day of Bengali new year (Pohela Baishakh).
Saha says that upholding these traditions helps students feel at home, despite potentially living far away from their countries of origin.
Saha says some of the main goals for the organization are to promote the country’s culture and traditions while also providing support and guidance for ISU students who may be adjusting to life in a new environment.
“One of the primary actions we take is to provide guidance to incoming and new students to the best of our abilities. We intend to make their journey as smooth as possible so that, hopefully, they can settle down in this new place with minimum hassle,” Saha said.
Treasurer Tashin Azad says BSA is a close community of students, staff and teachers at ISU that is enthusiastic about promoting and nurturing Bangladeshi culture on campus while also providing students with essential knowledge to increase their chances of success on campus both financially and academically.
“We support Bangladeshi students on campus by educating about ISU culture and initial steps such as paperwork, housing, bank account, etc. The purpose of providing these services is to make them familiar with the new environment and to smoothen their journey in a completely new country,” Azad said.
Likewise, Saha says BSA aims to keep in touch with all alumni to make networking opportunities more accessible for new and previous members. Azad noted that there is a significant community of individuals working for State Farm Insurance who have shown continuous interest in supporting BSA.
Overall, Azad and Saha agree that supporting a diverse environment at ISU is crucial for students to thrive on campus.
“We want to continue promoting our culture and upholding our tradition as we all work toward our individual achievements as academics. We also want to improve on our contribution to ISU in broadening the diversity culture in the campus,” Saha said.
“The main purpose of BSA is to promote, support, and provide education about Bangladeshi culture at ISU. We aim to build bridges between Bangladeshi students and all others in an effort to achieve a more diverse and inclusive campus environment,” Azad said.
GRACE PIZZINI is a News and Features Reporter for The Vidette. Pizzini can be contacted at gepizzi@ilstu.edu. Follow Pizzini on Twitter at @gepizzini
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