Setting a higher standard
UCLA’s Iranian student group

December 27, 2005
iranian.com

For many of us Iranian-Americans who grew up in an environment where learning about Iran and its history, languages, and culture was not available to us in schools, Iranian student organizations at the university level fill the void.  Unfortunately, many of these student groups pay more attention to social activities than to educational and cultural events.  UCLA’s Iranian Student Group (ISG), however, is different.

While I was president of the Iranian Student Alliance in America (ISAA) at UC Berkeley I came to learn about ISG and its enthusiastic and committed leadership.  An organization is as good as its leadership and ISG is an extraordinary student group because it has a highly organized and devoted leadership.  Despite having social events like a quarterly party, ISG has been able to strike an important balance as it also organizes educational and cultural events, which in my opinion is of great importance to Iranian-Americans searching to realize their Iranian identities.

ISG launches the school year with a meeting and a picnic to lure new UCLA students to ISG and all that it offers and its offerings are best summarized by ISG Chair Kayvan Iradjpanah’s recitation of ISG’s mission: “ISG seeks to unify Iranians at UCLA and beyond to promote cultural, educational, and social aspects relevant to Iranians and Iranian-Americans.” 

Throughout the year, ISG organizes documentary screenings and guest lectures on Iranian historical and social topics.  For example, they recently brought acclaimed author of “Funny in Farsi,” Firoozeh Dumas to UCLA to do a book signing and survey the Iranian-American immigrant experience and also just screened a documentary on the Iranian Revolution. 

ISG went an extra step and teamed up with the Armenian Student Association and organized a panel discussion regarding the “Armenian Experience in Iran.”  What’s more, ISG organizes literary nights where students gather in a warm environment and read Iranian poetry and short stories and movies like “Marmoolak” and “Baran” have been screened at their movie nights.

Game nights, backgammon tournaments, and an annual ski trip are organized for students to meet fellow Iranians and to blow off steam that accompanies the rigorous UCLA curriculum.  At the end of the fall quarter, ISG celebrated Shab-e Yalda so that students can feel at home while they are away from home, whether it be in America or in Iran. 

All these events are organized by a committed team of leaders who like the rest of the students at UCLA have to deal with demanding coursework and also have to work around the UCLA schedule that may conflict with Iranian holidays.  For example, the annual No Ruz show is put on two weeks before the actual holiday so that it does not conflict with UCLA quarterly finals. 

The most notable event of the year is ISG’s spectacular Culture Show, which is staged for two consecutive nights and draws a combined audience of 800 students and adults, Iranian and otherwise.  ISG’s brilliance is exemplified in two aspects, the first, it has been able to appeal to non-Iranians, and two, the Culture Show always has a theme that conveys a resounding and powerful message.

Two years ago, the Culture Show encompassed traditional and modern Iranian dances, a fashion show to highlight Iran’s various cultural attires, traditional and modern musical performances, and thanks to ISG’s Vice Chair Amita Firouzi and her highly creative mind, a story telling dance sequence where various Iranian songs are cut and connected to one another to tell a love story that is lip synched by a duo on stage. 

The main attraction to the show is the themed skit that is sectioned into beginning, middle, and end pieces that occur throughout the show and involves a staggering twenty participants. Two years ago, the skit touched on the issue of self-hatred, where Iranians shun fellow Iranians who have recently arrived to America and are more familiar with their Iranian culture than their newly adopted American one. 

Last year’s theme was titled “Nasl-e Jadid” (New Generation) and addressed how Iranian-Americans deal with relationship issues and career choices relative to the previous generation, their parents, and how much of the Iranian culture and identity will be transmitted to the next generation.  In case you haven’t noticed, we’re dealing with a constructive and purposeful team of ISG leaders.

ISG was first established at UCLA in 1983.  Although Iranian student groups existed years before, most of them were political and revolutionary and after 1979, virtually ceased to exist.  ISG is for a new generation, one not radical, but yearning for culture and knowledge about a homeland that seems so distant at times.  Throughout the years, ISG has fluctuated in degree of activity, but for the past several years, it has consistently grown and remained one of the more active student groups on campus. 

In 2004 , they took the unprecedented step and formed a Sisterhood of Organizations with UC Berkeley’s ISAA, MIT’s ISG, and a number of other Iranian student groups, a couple of which are in Canada and Europe.  The leadership is as dynamic as the organization.  Sahar Hamedani, the Publicity Chair, grew up in America and is a junior majoring in Psycho-Biology and minoring in Anthropology. 

Amita Firouzi, the Vice Chair, was raised in Iran and is majoring in Psychology and minoring in Applied Developmental Psychology.  Kayvan Iradjpanah, the two-time Chair, grew up in America and is a senior double majoring in History and Iranian Studies.  In other words, just these three student leaders signify the group’s diversity both in terms of field of study and where they were raised. 

My hat goes off to them and the rest of the ISG leadership team for making all of us Iranians proud, your efforts and undying commitment does not go unnoticed and unappreciated.  Keep up the exceptional work and I encourage the community to enhance their support of such productive Iranian student organizations and to pay them their due attention as their contribution to our community is priceless.  They set a high standard and I am hopeful that other Iranian student groups at other colleges and universities will follow suit. 

To learn more about UCLA’s ISG or to get on their listserv please visit the ISG site: www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/isg

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