Helping international students feel at home
ASU faculty members and students foster belonging across cultures
The club officers of Hindu YUVA at Arizona State University pose for a group shot in front of Old Main on the Tempe campus. The group, currently led by president Devansh Gupta (first row, center), a computer science undergraduate student in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU, strives to create a welcoming community for international students. Photo courtesy of Hindu YUVA/ASU
Devansh Gupta still remembers the disorienting blur of landing in Tempe just three days before his classes started, his late arrival causing him to miss the International Welcome activities and most of Welcome Week — the series of events Arizona State University designed to help new students settle in. He recalls feeling, as he puts it, “on my own.”
The computer science student from Kanpur, India, laughs now when he recalls the culture shocks — shops closing early, unfamiliar campus rhythms — but the memory of that first-week uncertainty is precisely what shaped his campus life. It’s also the reason he sought out a student group that could make a new place feel a little more like home.
Gupta, a senior in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU, found that home in Hindu YUVA at ASU, a campus chapter of an international student organization.
What began for him as a volunteer greeter at the airport quickly turned into a board position, then secretary and finally to his current role as the group’s president.
YUVA is an acronym for youth, unity, virtues and actions. Founded in 2006, this national organization now includes more than 100 university and high school chapters across the U.S. and Canada, with ASU as its largest and most active chapter. Gupta explains that the group’s purpose is to forge powerful cross-cultural connections and create a sense of belonging for everyone on campus. That inclusive spirit runs through everything the group does — from cultural programming to community service and large-scale celebrations that bring students together across majors, nationalities and identities.
“Drop by at any of our events and get ready for an amazing experience,” he says.
Hindu YUVA campus cluster coordinator Nandini Bhatt (second from left), fundraising and outreach committee member Tathagat Panwar (fourth from right), Gupta (third from right), former events committee member Aahuti Chaudhary (second from right) and secretary Prakhi Mandloi (right) greet ASU international students and their families as they arrive at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. The initiative, known as Swagatam, distributes welcome kits to help new students feel at home. Photo courtesy of Hindu YUVA/ASU
From Sky Harbor to a sense of home
At its heart, Hindu YUVA is a student organization that helps international students land, both literally and figuratively. The chapter’s airport initiative, Swagatam, which translates to welcome, places volunteers from Hindu YUVA and the ASU International Students and Scholars Center side-by-side at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport to meet incoming students and hand out welcome kits.
The kits contain basic grocery and personal care items to help students get started. But the meet-and-greet also creates an early human connection: a friendly face, a few minutes of conversation, a chance to ask the small, panicked questions that can make the first day feel less unfamiliar.
Gupta’s personal arrival experience — arriving late, figuring out off-campus housing and learning to navigate new systems — gave him a clear lens on why those little interventions matter. He recalls how upperclassmen in his off-campus housing group gave him a crash course in living in the U.S.
“That kind of smoothed out the process for me,” he says, and it’s the same impulse he’s tried to bring to Hindu YUVA’s programming, striving to offer practical help, friendly orientation and low-pressure ways to connect.
Gupta (second from left) poses with Hindu YUVA club officers at the Navratri celebration festival. Other officers pictured are Gyan Pratipat (third from left), Palash Sanghvi (third from right), Raunak Das (second from right) and Nandini Bhatt (right). Photographer: Kelly deVos/ASU
Running a club like it’s a startup
Organizing that support is serious work. The ASU chapter of Hindu YUVA currently has about 900 members, and their events average approximately 500 attendees.
Gupta, who leads an executive board of around 20 members, describes running the club like operating a small company. As president, he transitioned the group to structured meetings, moving planning off a single WhatsApp thread and into dedicated channels and splitting responsibilities across committees so volunteers can plug in where they’re most useful.
His experiences with Hindu YUVA helped him cultivate leadership skills that now shape his roles as a software development intern at Intuitive Machines and secretary of ASU’s IEEE-HKN Epsilon Beta Chapter.
“Event management really teaches you how to bring people together and make things happen, even when not everything is in your control,” he says.
Srividya Bansal, an associate professor and program chair of software engineering in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Fulton Schools, speaks at the Ganesh Utsav festival co-hosted by Hindu YUVA in August. Photo courtesy of Hindu YUVA/ASU
Faculty support has bolstered that student leadership. Srividya Bansal, associate professor and program chair of software engineering in the Fulton Schools, serves as Hindu YUVA’s faculty advisor and has been an active guide for the chapter as they navigate registrations, campus policy and event logistics.
“Supporting student leaders who build welcoming communities is central to our work in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence,” Bansal says. “I’m proud of how Hindu YUVA helps newcomers feel at home.”
Lighting up campus life
Cultural festivals are where the club’s combination of welcome and celebration come together. Gupta and his team recently organized Navratri celebrations on both the ASU Tempe and Polytechnic campuses. The productions required vendor coordination, food safety planning, marketing and dozens of student volunteers.
What stands out in Gupta’s description is his sense of intention. These events aren’t only for students from one background. They are opportunities for cultural sharing, for learning, for building the kinds of friendships that turn a campus into a community.
Attendees gather for the Ganesh Utsav festival. Hindu YUVA events often have hundreds of participants from ASU and the broader Arizona community. Photo courtesy of Hindu YUVA/ASU
“Hindu YUVA’s work matters because it meets students where they are,” Gupta says. “Whether that’s at the airport or on campus, we’re trying to help students get through the time when everything feels new.”
From nervous newcomer to president and community builder, Gupta’s arc shows how student organizations can be both support networks and training grounds. As he prepares for life after his bachelor’s degree, the leadership skills he’s gained running committees, negotiating vendor contracts and coordinating up to 40 volunteers at major events are the kind of experience that reads as clearly on a résumé as it feels in the moment.
The last word goes to the open invitation Hindu YUVA extends to the whole campus.
Gupta sums up the club, saying, “Hindu YUVA is one of the most open and welcoming cultural organizations that you might find on campus.”
Whether you’re stepping off a plane for the first time or just looking for a place to meet people, Hindu YUVA’s message is simple and inviting: welcome.
