Naperville Central’s Indian Student Association changed its name to South Asian Student Association in the second semester of the 2023-24 school year. 

SASA is a student organization based on bringing together students of South Asian heritage by providing opportunities for them to experience various cultural activities, like watching movies or playing games. 

“We just wanted some more diversity, because there are a lot of Sri Lankan people in our school, and there’s people from Nepal and Pakistan and other South Asian countries that [don’t] have clubs,” said sophomore Mahi Dharmavaram, SASA’s event coordinator. “You can’t really make [separate clubs] for all of [them], and we wanted to expand our horizons and include everyone.”

Dharmavaram said the change has had the desired effect and led to an increased and more diverse club body.

“Last year, we only had Indian members, but now we have [more] members from Sri Lanka and Pakistan,” Dharmavaram said.

This year, SASA co-president Riya Dondapati, a junior, said that the club is planning a lot of exciting activities.

“We [want] to host a Diwali party, and we’re also planning on [playing] a cricket match against Naperville North,” Dondapati said.

SASA meets every other Monday at 3:30 in room 224.

Correction: an earlier version of this story incorrectly labeled sophomore Sreeram Potnuru as a freshman.