Activism and involvement within the community will be two main themes of the 1999 Midwestern Indian American Students Conference scheduled for this weekend as part of the University's Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium.
IASA will sponsor the third annual midwestern conference, reflecting the theme "Mission: Limitless."
An additional focus is "Finding your passion: creating action through interaction," said LSA sophmore and conference co-coordinator Avani Sheth.
"The vision is inspiring all Indian-American students to get involved in the issues that surround the community," Sheth said, adding that the point of the conference is not only to educate but also to encourage students to take a step toward activism.
"Passion is everyone's individual motivation," Sheth said.
She added that activism includes various aspects beyond the usual sit-ins and rallies.
MLK Symposium coordinator Damon Williams said the conference has great relevance to King's legacy and the issues he supported.
"It's being sponsored by a group that champions a lot of the ideas Dr. King stood for; social struggles, societal change, uplifting the community and people that have been discriminated against," Williams said.
On Saturday, community activist Anju Bhargava is scheduled to give a lunch keynote on community and coalition building and Minnesota State Rep. Satveer Chaudhary is scheduled to deliver a dinner keynote on Indian-American activism.
Sheth explained that the conference is interactive in that it will create an atmosphere where speakers and students can meet each other.
They can "actually do something- not just sit and listen," Sheth said.
In addition to the lectures, activities will include various workshops and small group sessions throughout the weekend.
The workshops will have a variety of topics, including entrepreneurship; community, Indian and campus activism; race and legal issues; hate crimes and media stereotypes.
"There's something for every student there," Sheth said.
Sheth said the conference is open to everyone. She expects about 300 people to attend.
Sheth said she believes the conference will help to unite not only Indian American students, but other people on campus as well - especially minority groups.
"It brings awareness not only on issues that affect us, but issues that affect society," Sheth said.
Active involvement in these issues will strengthen the community as a whole, she said.
Williams said he agrees that the conference incorporates more than one community and encourages all students to attend.
"Although the focus of the conference is directly pertinent to Indian American students, we could all benefit from going to events that aren't necessarily targeted to our constituencies," he said.
The conference is scheduled to begin at noon today in the Michigan Union's Pendelton Room and will run until Jan. 24.
Interested students may register for the conference online at IASA's website, http//www.umich.edu/~iasa/miasc.
01-22-99
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