I have a big announcement

May 28, 2023

May 28, 2023

It’s Asian American Heritage Month in the U.S. and this past week I launched SouthAsia-IEN, the South Asia International Education Network.

If you’ve been reading this newsletter for a while and if you’ve read my book, America Calling, then you know that I spend a lot of time thinking about my status as an immigrant and my place as one speck in the vast Indian diaspora that cuts across every continent—it is believed that every sixth person in the world is of Indian origin (or perhaps this is an urban myth)! Ever since it became clear to me that the U.S. would be my home, accompanying this realization was the desire to give back in some way to my country of origin, to stay connected, while at the same time contributing as a good citizen in one’s newfound home.

As my work in international higher education continued to expand over the past two decades, it became increasingly clear to me that our colleges and universities are the obvious conduit for immigrant diasporas to share knowledge and engage with their ancestral home—a “giving back” but also re-engaging and staying in touch. With South Asians now constituting one of the fastest-growing immigrant groups in the U.S., the presence of those of South Asian heritage on our campuses is everywhere—from the 200,000+ international students from South Asian countries, to first- and second-generation South Asian immigrant students, to the thousands of faculty and administrators, to the growing numbers of presidents and chancellors who now lead U.S. institutions. An increasing number of leaders of nonprofits, think tanks, and companies that work alongside U.S. colleges and universities are also of South Asian origin. As the South Asian diaspora has grown, so have the economies and populations of our home region. The higher education sectors of many South Asian countries are expanding rapidly, with bold and innovative strategies to be global and world-class.

But while we have organizations that connect journalists, lawyers, artists, and grassroots advocates across the South Asian diaspora in the U.S., to date no network or organization has tapped into the growing collective power of those whose work in higher education connects them to South Asia. It was with this vision of connecting back to our countries of origin, but also connecting across the U.S. that the idea of SouthAsia-IEN was born. The South Asia International Education Network (SouthAsia-IEN) brings together leaders, practitioners, scholars, and entrepreneurs in the U.S. higher education space whose origins and/or work touch upon the countries of South Asia.

My co-founder in this effort is Dr. Uttiyo Raychaudhuri, Vice Provost for Internationalization at the University of Denver (pictured here at an event at DU at which I spoke), and a seasoned campus leader in internationalization efforts at other campuses such as Cornell, Clemson, and the University of Georgia. We began to talk about this idea over a coffee at a conference in mid-February in Washington DC and exactly three months later, SouthAsia-IEN was launched.

The reception has been tremendous: our inbox has quickly filled up with requests to connect and learn more about SouthAsia-IEN, both by those of South Asian origin but also by those whose work relates to South Asia. SouthAsia-IEN is not limited to those of South Asian heritage. Rather, we recognize the extensive engagement in South Asia by a large number of scholars and practitioners who themselves may or may not be of South Asian heritage.

You might ask, “Why South Asian and why not just Indian?”

After all, Uttiyo and I are both of Indian origin and—just in terms of sheer numbers and representation—India often dwarfs any conversation about South Asia. One of our early advisors—a seasoned university leader in the U.S. and India—pushed us to think hard about this: Could we realistically have representation from South Asian countries, or would this simply turn into yet another token effort where we call ourselves “South Asian” but are mostly focused on India?

We went back to the drawing board to reconsider this…

…but came back with a renewed commitment to our original vision that this effort is about South Asia. We aim to be inclusive, recognizing the wide and deep historical, geographical, and cultural connections between the countries of South Asia, and across the widespread South Asian diaspora. For many South Asians their family’s history cuts across different countries in the region, all of which were cleaved from a more singular identity and culture through a series of wars and ruptures. This was true for my family as well, one half of which was originally from what became Pakistan.

Yet in our day-to-day lives, particularly as part of a large diaspora here in the U.S., we are more connected than different.

I think this resonates with our colleagues. I’m thrilled that our launch meeting in DC next week, taking place on the fringes of the annual NAFSA conference, has attendees whose heritage and/or work cuts across Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and, of course, the U.S.

So what will SouthAsian-IEN be all about? This idea is still taking shape, but we imagine that it will cut across four areas:

Peer-to-peer networking
Higher education partnerships
Educational diplomacy
Mentoring and professional development

I’m excited yet nervous about our new endeavor!

If you’d like to learn more and would like to connect, please write to us at: connect@southasia-ien.org or you can write to me here with your thoughts. We also invite you to subscribe through our website to receive exciting updates as this idea takes shape and develops. And if you know someone who you think should be involved, please share this with them.

And last but not the least, we need your support, so if you have ideas on how to grow and sustain SouthAsia-IEN, please get in touch.

Stunning Statistic!

Did you know that…

With almost half of its population of 1.8 billion below the age of 24, led by India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, South Asia will have the largest youth labour force in the world until 2040, which also means that this region will have some of the largest demand for a college education (source: UNICEF).

May is graduation time in the U.S.

This year I had the huge honor and privilege of addressing graduates at the Kean University 2023 Honors Convocation. Through the process, I also learned much about Kean, including that it is the only U.S. public university to offer a full campus in China; that it is a top-ranked institution for the social mobility and diversity of its students; and, it was the first public post-secondary institution in NJ. As an immigrant myself, it was also special to be with Kean students and their families during graduation as a third of the area's population is foreign-born. Earlier in the day I also had the opportunity to speak with senior leaders at Kean about the takeaways from my book and my work with international students. 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨/𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐲 below (my remarks begin at 33:50 mins)