The problem comes when, according to members, the University assumes that AAA speaks for all Asians on campus.

"The University thinks of us as Asian, but the AAA is willing to cordon us off," said co-president Mona M. Patel '94. "If we're not represented by AAA, there seems to be a gap between what the University sees is going on and what we see going on."

This situation, say SAA members, was reflected in the ethnic groupings on Harvard's admissions form in years past, which offered only the category "Asian/Pacific Islander." The only other option for South Asians was the general "Other."

Last year, after complaints by one South Asian student, the category was changed to "Asian American," accompanied by a request for "country of family's origin."

Nikhilesh M. Korgaonkar '95, the SAA academic and political chair, says the group is working to have a voice in administrative affairs.

"What I'd like to do is secure a place for SAA on the Foundation [the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations]," Korgaonkar says. "The biggest thing that AAA has that SAA doesn't is that they can get the University to look at them."

A Changing Role

The SAA was originally created as a social organization. Last year, when the group spoke out against the invitation of City University of New York professor Leonard Jeffries to campus, it took a political stance for the first time in its history.

However, members say this step was preceded by many other shifts in the way the SAA operates. Two years ago, the organization decided to expand its executive board to include eight members: president, treasurer, social coordinator, academic and political coordinator, liaison, publicity coordinator and two members-at-large. Since then, the members-at-large have been replaced by a gender issues coordinator and an executive coordinator.

The new emphasis on academic and political affairs was shown clearly last year during a campaign by the organization to keep Ali S. Asani, an associate professor of Indo-Muslim culture, at the University. Asani remained at Harvard, and the effort encouraged a more active policy for the SAA, members say.

The addition of a gender issues coordinator, say students, is typical of the new directions the organization is taking.

"The numbers of women in the SAA have increased dramatically from last year...maybe because we're more willing to address gender issues," says Sujatha Baliga '93, the gender issues coordinator.

"It's such a diverse culture in and of itself. I'd like to see us all learn from each other," she says.

Along with the development of the academic and political side of the SAA has come an expansion of the cultural and social side, say members.

Ghungaroo, the group's annual cultural festival including singing, dancing and acting, is also growing in stature. "There were more than 300 audience members last year. One hundred people were turned away at the door, [and] we expanded it to two nights of performing," said Mukesh Prasad '93, last year's co-president.