Students Re-Start South Asian Women’s Collective

A group of undergraduates has re-started the South Asian Women’s Collective, a social and cultural organization for South Asian women, after almost two years of inactivity.

Kruti B. Vora ’17 and Kavya Pathak ’17 have led the effort to rebuild SAWC.

“People have been talking about it, and there has been a need ever since it died,” Vora said. “There are a lot of people looking for this inclusive community. So at the beginning of this year, we decided to put this into action.”

Pathak, a Crimson design editor, said that the South Asian community at Harvard has been enthusiastic about their efforts, and many upperclassmen remember their own positive experiences in SAWC from years past.

“It was a really amazing experience for me,” Swetha Sanagavarapu ’17 said of her experiences in SAWC during the first semester of her freshman year. “I got to meet upperclassmen, hear their perspectives on life at Harvard, and most of all, make new friends.”

Sanagavarapu is helping Vora and Pathak rebuild the organization.

According to Vora and Pathak, the Office of Student Life said that the group would not be formally recognized or funded until next semester, but Vora and Pathak said they will still provide SAWC opportunities this semester as well.

“The need is now, not next semester,” Vora said.

SAWC held its first event of the semester last weekend, which offered an opportunity for students to interact and meet new people.

“It went really well,” Pathak said. “When a group has died, sometimes you wonder: is there really a need for it? But to see a lot of upperclassmen who haven’t had this for a couple of years say ‘I’m so pumped, so excited for the next event’? That’s all the support you need.”

South Asian Men's Collective President Kais Khimji ’17 expressed excitement about the prospect of the re-emergence of a female counterpart to SAMC.

He said that the two groups were already trying to organize a mixer and that SAMC would offer to fund the mixer, “to show that SAMC fully supports the creation and sustenance of SAWC.”

Pathak and Vora said that members of SAWC are grateful for SAMC’s support and cooperation with rebuilding the organization.