Organization
Cambodian American Student Association at UMass Lowell
The Cambodian American Student Association (CASA) is a student club at the University of Massachusetts Lowell that shares Khmer culture, language and history.[1] It is one of the Asian American Sister Clubs that work with the university's Asian American Center for Excellence & Engagement.[1] The club also serves as a student voice to the Khmer community of Lowell, which the center counts as the second-largest Cambodian American population in the United States.[1]
Activities
CASA brings Khmer culture to the campus, to the city of Lowell and to communities beyond it, and it hopes to open forums on the arts, history and people of Cambodia.[1] Its traditional dance group, the Coconut Dance team, performs robam kous traloak, the coconut shell dance.[2][3]
The club's yearly Khmer New Year celebration was its biggest event in 2018. That year it was held on April 14, with traditional performances, Cambodian food and sets by Rice Paddy Heroes, UMass Lowell ProtoHype, Mill Advised and DJ Skyhai.[4] On August 19, 2023, CASA members and the Team CASA crew team appeared with State Senator Ed Kennedy at the Southeast Asian Water Festival in Lowell.[5]
History
In 2010 the association posted a video slideshow of what it had done and achieved over that summer.[6] UMass Lowell lists it among the student organizations on its campus.[7]
Community
For many members the club is a way into Khmer culture. Kristy Louie, a student from 2019 to 2022, joined the Coconut Dance and took an introductory Cambodian culture class with George Chigas; she wrote that CASA and the Student Association of Chinese Americans "gave me a home away from home."[3] A student named Pailin found his own connection to Cambodian culture through the Coconut Dance team.[2]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 UMass Lowell AACEE, Sister Clubs
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 MA Latino News, "We don't feel Khmer enough" (September 12, 2024)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 UMass Lowell Canal, Culture, Community, and Home (2023)
- ↑ Like Lowell, Explore like a local: festivals (2018)
- ↑ Senator Ed Kennedy, State Senator Ed Kennedy attends Lowell Southeast Asian Water Festival (August 2023)
- ↑ RichardHowe.com, Cambodian American Student Association @ UML (December 13, 2010)
- ↑ UMass Lowell Diversity Portal, Student Success Initiatives