Dharamshala, 26th Janaury: This month, the Harvard Undergraduate Tibetan Cultural Association was created to promote Tibetan culture and knowledge. The association’s goal, according to students participating in its development, is to bring Tibetan students on campus together in appreciation of their heritage.
Tsering Yangchen ’25, who organises the association’s events said that the sheer essence of their collective existence there as Tibetans at Harvard is very significant. Simply admitting their presence there, by enabling the establishment of this organisation, is a huge accomplishment in and of itself.
One of the group’s founding members, Tenzin Y. Dadak ’25, said the organisation wants to serve as a cultural venue for both Tibetan heritage students and people interested in Tibet. She added that it is for Tibetans and non-Tibetans to understand about Tibet as a whole, apart from its political identity.
According to Dadak, the group also allows for the promotion of vital components of Tibetan culture, such as Tibetan Buddhism. She said that a lot of tibetan culture revolves around compassion, doing good for others, festivities, and similar activities.
Yangchen feels the club also serves as a reminder of the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1950, which its exiled leadership claims has resulted in the loss of Tibetan culture. She added that in some respects, it’s a form of resistance to that cultural genocide, as well as a strategy to simply maintain our culture, which is on the verge of extinction at the moment.
In the near future, the Tibetan Cultural Association has a number of activities planned, including a Tibetan New Year celebration in March. The programme, according to Dadak, aims to educate students in Tibetan culture by allowing them to eat khapse, a traditional biscuit associated with Tibetan New Year celebrations. Yangchen went on to say that the group is thinking of creating an annual event to honour Tibetan culture.
Dadak added that the group hopes to hold “White Wednesday,” or Lakhar, on a regular basis, a ritual that arose when the Tibetan government went into exile and is supposed to promote Tibetan culture. Yangchen expressed the hope that the club’s reach will someday include undergraduates from outside Tibet.
Dadak expressed her hope that the group’s participation will increase Tibetan students’ visibility outside of Harvard’s campus and, as a result, inspire more high school students to apply to prestigious educational institutions.
Choetsow Tenzin ’23, a Flyby editor, is another co-founder who believes the organisation will be able to encourage Tibetan students to want to attend Harvard and other elite universities while also sharing Tibet’s distinctive culture.