Harvir Kalkat came to Cal Poly one year late. Sharing the experience of many college freshmen whose first year occurred in 2020 during the initial COVID-19 outbreak, he chose to stay home and take classes online. And like many other students, it was difficult to find a footing and sense of community after moving to San Luis Obispo his sophomore year. As a Sikh individual, this transition proved even more difficult.
“When I came to Cal Poly it was hard not being able to find any students that look a lot like me,” Kalkat said. “It felt like a rare occurrence to find another student in a turban at Cal Poly.”
In his junior year, he began to run into more students of his background. Since the university didn’t have an organized Sikh student community, he decided it was time to establish one. Through the Sikh Student Association, Harvir Kalkat was able to turn this deficit into an opportunity to create community and representation for the Sikh students of Cal Poly.
“I have friends that are at UC Riverside, UC Davis, and UC Berkeley, and all have Sikh student associations,” said Kalkat. “So as a high schooler my assumption was that once I went to college, I would be able to join one as well. So it was kind of to my shock that when I came to Cal Poly, that apparently had never been proposed.”
For Kalkat, a first step to establishing a Sikh student club was exploring whether other students shared his interest.
“I put it on the Cal Poly Reddit to see if there would be any traction behind it and if we should pursue it, and a lot of people seemed interested,” he said.
The next step was to officially register the Sikh Student Association. Fall quarter has been club’s the second official quarter, and it has been instrumental in drawing in new members.
A big step for the club was when they were able to have a booth at the club fair at the start of the year to draw in freshmen and help them to find a Sikh community on campus right away. The club now has around 18 members and meets weekly, Kalkat said.
“The most vocal group at the first meeting was the freshmen,” Kalkat said. “I think it’s been a good way for them to adjust to a new place. They don’t have to put up with the awkwardness that I did in trying to find people like me. I think they have an easy avenue, especially with the club fair, to quickly find people like them.”
Rajvir Singh is computer engineering sophomore, and one of the students who has benefited from this community. As a first generation immigrant, he grappled with the struggle of finding a college with a presence of Sikh/Punjabi individuals. Coming to Cal Poly, he was scared that the university would not provide this support system, he said.
“I have always been eager to get involved with people from my own community but there was never an outlet for it on campus, something that was a major negative for me when deciding to come to Cal Poly,” Singh said. “When I heard that SSA was up and running through their social media, I felt a sense of relief since it was much needed on campus. I immediately decided to attend meetings and socialize within my community.”
This club has fulfilled an important need for Singh, providing the sense of a support system that every college student needs.
“It allows me to feel more comfortable with my native tongue, music and culture on campus,” Singh said. “SSA has made it a lot easier for Sikh students to find their place on campus.”
Along with providing community, another important tenant of the club’s mission is providing a space for exploring Sikh culture and religiously specific holidays.
“Living in San Luis Obispo, there’s not a lot of Sikh temples in the area,” Kalkat said. “I think the closest ones are in Ventura and Bakersfield, which is why it’s especially important for us that when these holidays come up, we don’t simply forget them and just move on with our lives. But we’re able to celebrate with each other.”
According to the United Sikh Movement, over 15 universities in California have Sikh Student Associations, which provide space for students to not only find community, but continue to explore their culture and religion with other students.
In the future, Kalkat hopes the Sikh Student Association can extend education on the Sikh culture to the wider campus community, which could mean teaching the community about the motivation behind their religious holidays. One example is Diwali, a major holiday from the Indian subcontinent, which is on Nov. 12.
“Although most Indians do celebrate Diwali, the reason why many people celebrate it is in practicing Hinduism,” Kalkat said.
The reason for celebrating these holidays, however, carries a different significance to individuals of the Sikh faith.
“We have quite a different reason for celebrating a holiday that happens to fall on the same day,” Kalkat said.
Working with the President’s office or Multicultural Center to share the dates, meanings, and significance of cultural events and holidays would be the end goal.
“If on the holiday, someone not practicing Sikhism themselves wished me a happy Bandi Chor Divas (a Sikh holiday falling on Nov. 12), it would mean a lot to me,” Kalkat said. “Just the information and knowledge being out there would be significant.”
In this way, the students of the club can celebrate their diversity and share it with the wider community.
“It’s a predominantly white school, but there is a level of diversity that I feel like everyone is able to find,” Kalkat said.
After graduation, Kalkat will leave behind a legacy of creating a space for Sikh students to immediately find members of their faith and find a sense of community.