Within the many spheres and skills of Drexel student life, the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE) finds comfort in community. SASE develops itself by having members volunteer for the local community, preparing them for the workplace or advocating for them by promoting cultural diversity on Drexel’s campus.
SASE is dedicated to preparing Asian heritage scientists and engineers for success in the global business world, celebrating diversity on Drexel’s campus, in the workplace and giving back to the local community. Professional development, cultural diversity and community volunteering are the three main pillars of SASE national. SASE’s Drexel chapter has a unique take to bring about all three aspects of the mission to its student members and the residents of the local community around Drexel’s campus.
To help students academically and professionally, SASE has created a mentorship program that allows SASE upperclassmen to offer guidance to younger members.
“Through multiple events, they meet each other where they would be paired as a mentorship pair not limited to being in the same major or same college that way they can connect with others from different colleges and learn from them,” says Christine Su, SASE’s internal vice president and a third-year double majoring in International Business and Technology and Innovation Management.
Aside from its mentorship program, SASE’s e-board has an agenda to promote cultural diversity at Drexel by hosting Asian inclusive events that encourage members of Drexel’s AAPI student population to join them.
According to Angel Trach, SASE’s president and fourth-year majoring business and engineering and minoring in robotics, “While we are always looking to recruit more members to join SASE and participate in our events, we also want to make sure we retain our members as well as provide events they are interested in attending.”
Outside of Drexel’s campus, SASE strongly believes in helping the local community, including but not limited to communities within Philadelphia with an outstanding Asian-American population.
“Giving back to the community is really something we do as an org, and we really try to emphasize to our members that it is a big part of our org,” says Angel.
In order to provide all of these different experiences, SASE receives outside funding. Shan Chen, SASE’s event coordinator and a second-year Software Engineering major, recalls, “We collaborated with The Walsh Group last year where we hosted a virtual panel with them and through this, they were able to sponsor us for our national conference this year.”
SASE is a club that breaks the boundaries of what a typical student-life club at Drexel can do. It is also a club that is 100% committed to supporting students culturally and academically while also helping the community around them. Other clubs at Drexel can take a page from SASE’s book to introduce students to new ideas and give them fresh experiences by exploring multiple avenues to involvement on campus.