The Bangladesh Students Association had a great year on the
2017-18 academic calendar. The association saw a lot of new faces and new
active people. A significant shift from its more traditional social activities
were led by the Executive Committee, with the introduction of academic and new
cultural events. We over saw transformation of BDSA and pushed forward new
ideas as much as possible.
Primary focus of the current committee of BDSA was to strictly
maintain punctuality, strictly enforce food safety and hygiene to avoid food
poisoning, and to focus more goal driven events than simple social events. Most
activities that we undertook had to have a good answer to the question “why we are
doing it?” Main thrust of the committee was academic, cultural and sports
events.
Events and Activities
1. BDSA Cricket League
BDSA cricket league planning started before we, the 2017-18
Executive Committee, officially took charge of BDSA. Many a times, in cricket,
some players are deprived of batting or bowling, especially if their side was
playing well. We envisioned a tournament for the first time where some new
“fair participation” rules were introduced. BDSA become the second club in
Purdue to host its own cricket tournament, (after the Purdue ICL). Fair
participation rule dictated that every player in a team, regardless of his
skill level must bowl, no player would face more than 10 balls in a game, and
batting order must be shuffled in every game. Total 32 players split up in 4
teams formed the league. The audience participation in the game was
unexpectedly well, with community members of BDSA coming to enjoy the game and
cheering for their teams.
2. BDSA new website
The upgrade program to BDSA’s website was undertaken by the BDSA
2016-17 committee, and the past President put a lot of effort to redesign the
site. We had to redo the designing in blogspot.com as it was a more
economically viable option. Our website www.bdsapurdue.org came live 2
hours before we officially took charge of the BDSA, on July 8th,
2017. Since blogspot.com is extremely efficient in content creation, our
website has been one of the most UpToDate website in the campus, and on December
2017 we redesigned the interface to more professional outlook.
3. Summer Outing
The Summer outing event was not planned by the current
committee. It was originally envisioned as a Summer BBQ by the 2016-17
committee and the Happy Hollow Park Shelter was booked for July 27th,
2017. The 2016-17 committee had hoped originally to hold the transition of
power at the BBQ, but later decided to hand over power to the current committee
on July 8th. We, the 2017-18 committee decided that it would be best
to have the BBQ when most of the students come back to campus at the beginning
of the Fall semester, and converted it to a “Summer Outing”, an outdoor picnic
event. The event went on successfully despite heavy rain and mosquito attacks
in the hilly Happy Hollow Shelter. We introduced a new game called “couple’s
marble race and traditional picnic games such as musical pillow, stamp hitting,
etc. About 62 people signed up for the event.
4. Fall BBQ
Fall BBQ of BDSA was one of the major events of BDSA that we envisioned
will help us with more Bangladeshis around the campus. The BBQ was held in Ross
Hill Park shelter on August 27th 2017.The event had a vibrant
presence of Undergrads, community members, and families. This was the largest
BDSA gathering and had more signups than the last two BBQs combined. To make
the BBQ successful and enjoyable for all the participants, we had to come up
with innovative solutions to handle the unprecedented large signup. In past we
had problems of shortage of grill which resulted in extremely long wait time
for BBQ, and, impatient participants not waiting for their turn to take seconds
and thirds. We introduced color coded coupon to make the food distribution more
disciplined. We also took about 7 grills to the venue and hired a U-haul to
quickly transport the coal and grills to the venue.
The primary focus of the event was the incoming undergraduate
and graduate students. To receive them into the community and welcome them, we
gave fresh roses to each new student, given by the toddlers of the BDSA
community. The event saw a huge involvement of the Undergraduate students of
Purdue, thanks to a mass-email sent to every Bangladeshi student in Purdue
campus, and the undergraduates actively participated and volunteered in the
BBQ.
We were also particular about finishing the event before the
announced time of 4 pm.
5. BDSA Flood Donation Fund
In monsoon 2017, Bangladesh experienced one of the worst floods
in 40 years. Approximately one-third of the country’s areas were flooded with
devastating harvest, livestock, and homes. The flood required humanitarian aids
and reliefs, and BDSA worked to collect funds for the flood affected people.
1894.02$ were raised through the fund raiser. BDSA donated the money to
Manush Manusher Jonno (MMJ) Foundation Inc. through the Purdue Business Office
for Student Organizations (BOSO).
6. BDSA Table Tennis Tournament
One of our lesser focused events, the table tennis tournament
focused to increase active sports in the community. We had undergraduate
participation in the tournament. The tournament was held between September
12-15. Gold (1st place), Silver (2nd place) and
Bronze (3rd place) medal were given to the participants.
(Women's Singles: Gold: Priyom, Silver: Faria, Bronze: Mun; Men's Doubles:
Gold: Asif & Shamya, Silver: Tridib & Saeed, Bronze: Zahid & Shakib
S.)
7. Adda with Founding President of BDSA
Professor Hafiz Abdur Rahman, founding president of BDSA visited
Purdue on September 2, 2017. Prof. Hafiz Rahman and his wife, Prof. Nazmun
Nahar, both graduated from Purdue. We organized an informal discussion session
with them, where they shared memories about their stay in Purdue and early days
of BDSA. According to Prof. Rahman, originally, BDSA had a graduate president
and undergraduate secretary in the executive committee. Prof. Rahman also
discussed job prospects in Bangladesh and career opportunities.
8. 1st BDSA Symposium
We, the bachelors of the BDSA, have iftar at the ISGL during
Ramadan and have great adda sessions after iftar. In one
such adda, Shahriar Karim (Sajal) bhai suggested to introduce
more academic focused events at BDSA and have talks by graduate students. The
idea was extremely enthusiastically received by Tridib, who insisted we start
this symposium series. The first symposium was held on September
24, 2017 at the PGSC with Tridib Saha, Rifat Ferdous,
Naimur Rahman, Shahriar Karim Sajal, and Shamya Dey talking about research and
activities. To increase the number of audiences, we distributed the table
tennis medals at the symposium.
9. BDSA Undergraduate Symposium
I always wanted to do an event particularly focused on
Undergraduate students and increase undergraduate involvement in BDSA. Quick
brainstorming with a few undergrads that I knew, we came up with the idea of
the Undergraduate Symposium, where senior undergrads and recent alumni of BDSA
gives the talk on their career path and Purdue graduate students who also did
their undergrad here gives a talk on research opportunities in the campus.
Thereby the first Undergraduate research symposium was held on October 21st,
2017 in the Krach Leadership Center (KRCH 260). Other than myself giving a
presentation about BDSA to the Undergrads, Sajid Choudhury, Shahriar Karim,
Iramul Hoque, Saiful Islam, Salsabil Salah, Ishmum Hasan, Saeeda Zaman,
Mohammad Absar spoke regarding their career paths, while Tridib Saha and
Shahriar Karim (Sajal) bhai spoke about the research opportunity.
Maliha prepared slides for the presentation for undergrad research.
10. Bangladesh Night
Hosting a Bangladesh Cultural Night on a similar scale of IMLD
was a dream of mine. As I showed in the General Meeting in BDSA, Purdue is
extremely strategically located to have a get together of different Bangladeshi
Communities, with UIUC, University of Notre Dame, IUPUI, IU Bloomington,
University of Chicago, PU Fort Wayne all being with in 2 hours
driving distance, and the concept was to make a Bangladesh night in
collaboration with all these Universities. The Bangladesh Night was held on
October 28th, 2017 in the Matthews 210. We had over all 14
performances and had audience and performers from neighboring cities and
Universities.
11. Free T-shirt Distribution for BDSA members
To utilize surplus budget and to encourage members to become
active, BDSA distributed free t-shirt to all active members, adjunct members,
and donors. The t-shirt was prepared from a Purdue approved vendor with an
official license from Purdue University and designed by Shorf Afza with
scarlet, gold and forest colors chosen by vote by the BDSA members. Total 95
t-shirts were distributed to the contributors.
12. Purdue Winterization
BDSA participated in the winterization event, which is the
largest community service organized at Purdue. Winterization was held on
November 11th, 2017. Members of BDSA gathered to help rake leaves
and trim bushes of elderly people of Lafayette. We started distributing the
T-shirts at the Winterization event so that volunteers could wear BDSA and
Bangladesh’s name while helping the community. Our advisor, Prof Ashraf Alam
joined in the event to encourage us.
13. 3rd BDSA Symposium
The third symposium of BDSA was held on November 11th,
2017 in PGSC 105. Talks were given by Prof. Md. Saifur Rahman,
Krannert School of Management, Uma Aryal, Dr. Ziaur Rahman, SM Zahid Iqbal,
Ragib Hasan Arefin, Afia Sultana. BDSA Tshirts were distributed amongst the
attendees.
14. Holidays Around the World
BDSA participated in the Holidays Around the World organized by
PSUB on December 6, Wednesday. It was from 7:00pm-10: 00 pm at the Purdue
Memorial Union, North Ballroom. Members of the West Lafayette community learned
about the Bangla Noboborsho at the event, and had an opportunity to pose at the
Photo Booth decorated with a "Nokshi Katha".
15. Subaru Factory Trip of BDSA
BDSA organized trip to Subaru factory for its
members. 22 people initially signed up for the trip, but due to adverse weather
condition with heavy snowfall, only 11 people participated in the tour.
16. BDSA Ultimate Women’s and Men’s Badminton
BDSA Purdue arranged a two-day badminton tournament in February
10th and 11th. The tournament featured doubles
format games for men and women. Women’s Doubles Champion: Faria & Israt,
1st runner-up: Orchi & Jame, 2nd runner-up: Shagufta & Sarah,
Men's Doubles: Champion: Rajib & Rabu, 1st runner-up: Biddut & Shamik,
2nd runner-up: Sajid/Saeed
17. Ekushey Probhat Feri
Bangladesh Students Association - Purdue University BDSA pays
homage to the martyrs of Bengali Language Movement at Ekushey Probhat Feri.
About 23 people participated in paying homage to the paper Shahid Minar model
and singing patriotic songs of Bangladesh at the Hiler Theatre in 21st February
12 am.
18. BDSA SWE Symposium
BDSA collaborated with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) to
present the joint symposium featuring the female graduate students at Purdue in
STEM from Bangladesh. Tahrima Rouf, Zinia Jaman, Saima Sharmin,
Maliha Hossain, Rafatul Faria, and Orchi Hassan presented their research topic
and field. Mallory Slavis Vice President SWE, gave presentation on the Society
and expressed interest in collaborating more with graduate students.
19. Celebrating International Mother Language Day
Through the International Mother Language Day (IMLD) program,
Firstly, we wanted to put forward Bangladesh, its history, and culture to the
diverse Purdue population. Secondly, we wanted to give a platform to the
diverse student body at Purdue to celebrate their linguistic diversity and
culture. We celebrated the International Mother Language Day (IMLD)
on March 31st, 2018 in Fowler Hall, Stewart Center. Total 7 non-Bengali
performances representing 9 different languages were held at the event. In
total, there were 16 different performances. We are particularly proud of our
depiction of the history of IMLD and Bangladesh part in this year's IMLD
Celebration. The presentation combines live dance, song, poetry, and march with
our traditional video presentation. Execution of this part required
synchronization with a live video.
20. BDSA Boardgame Night
We organized BDSA Board Game Night on April 7th, Saturday at
PGSC. Games that were played, were Fifa, Ludu, and Uno.
21. ASUB Multicultural Showcase
BDSA performed in the ASUB Multicultural Showcase held
in Fowler Hall, Stewart Center, on April 8 2018. About 200 people attended the
show where “Aji Bangladesher Hridoy Hote” (From the heart of Bangladesh today…)
was performed with singing and dancing.
22. Pahela Boishakh Celebration
Pahela Boishakh Celebration was held on April 14th,
2018 in the PGSC. It was one of the largest indoor events that BDSA ever
organized, with 128 people participating in the event (based on signup sheet
and headcount). Community members sponsored Hilsha for BDSA. The PGSC was
completely reorganized and decorated with the help of volunteers. After the
dinner open-mic performances were held by the BDSA members with the spirit of
Borsho-Boron.
23. BDSA Soccer Tournament
BDSA organized the soccer tournament named “BDSA World Cup 2018”
in the Turf Recreational Sports Center (TREC). The TREC was booked officially
for the tournament. For men’s group three teams titled Abahoni, Mohammedan and
Muktijoddha was formed for five a side soccer game. For women’s group penalty
shootout was organized with three a side team.
24. Bangladeshi Movie Show – Dhaka Attack
Aiming towards our cultural thrust, BDSA organized movie
screening of the Dhaka Attack (2017). The movie was showed with the
help of Bioskope Films LLC, sole distributor of it in North America,
through signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU). Dhaka Attack (2017) is a
police-thriller film, envision and written by Sunny Sanwar.The screening was
held in the Hiler Theatre in Wilmeth Active Learning Center (WALC) and was
attended 75-80 people estimated by headcount.
25. BDSA Symposium Sunny Sanwar
The scriptwriter of the Dhaka Attack film is a Police Additional
Deputy Commissioner himself. Mr. Sanwar is a chemist from Jahangir Nagar
University. He is also an expert of high-risk operations and head of Bomb
Disposal Unit of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Mr. Sanwar was known personally
to one of the committee members of the current committee. We reached out to
him, and he agreed to give a talk on the vision and making process of the film.
The talk was telecast live from BDSA facebook page and well received. Mr.
Sanwar thanked the BDSA and organizers for promoting the Bangladeshi film.
Future activities and
administrative improvements
BDSA has obtained permanent locker space in the PGSC basement,
and permanent office space in the Krach Leadership Center. We received two SOGA
grants – one for the IMLD event and one for a future Bangla Nobanno Utshob
(Bengal Harvest Festival) to be organized on Fall 2018. The Nobanno Utshob
grant is the highest grant ever received by the BDSA. We received GSOGA grant
for supporting our activities. BDSA is also going to attend the PSUB organized
Homecoming Parade, that is to be held in September 2018. We updated the BDSA
Constitution limiting term to Presidency to only one term. We bought capital
equipment for BDSA such as storage tote for all BDSA properties, and label
maker to reduce cost of trophies and medals in sports event.
Over all, it was a very active year for us with lots of
activities and planning. I sincerely thank particularly my committee members
and the Bangladeshi community in general and hope the new committee will
continue to bring new ideas and events to the community.
