The Northeastern University Korean American Student Association (KASA) is an organization that serves to promote cultural awareness at Northeastern University and the surrounding Boston area. In bringing together students of all backgrounds, race, ethnicity, color and religion, KASA serves to establish a sense of community and to educate others on the Korean culture. KASA hosts many events throughout the year including casual outings to Korean restaurants (KASA EATS), karaoke nights, movie nights, and more. One of last year’s most memorable events was when KASA brought the popular show, The King of Masked Singer, to AfterHours and students participated in the anonymous singing contest. Another hot event was when KASA invited famous Korean American rapper, Junoflo, who starred on the well-known Korean rapping show, Show Me The Money. He performed a collection of his songs and students were able to enjoy this intimate and free mini concert on campus.
In addition to KASA is KADA, the dance component of the club. Those passionate about dancing or want to learn kpop dances are able to attend KADA dance workshops where different dances are learned every few weeks. Although COVID has ended all the possibilities of hosting these in-person events this year, KASA is still finding ways to keep their club alive while accommodating students not living on campus this year. So far, KASA has held virtual game nights, KADA workshops, movie nights, and more.
A huge element of KASA is the gajok (family) system where upperclassmen can “pick up” underclassmen and introduce them into their families which consist of other students involved in KASA. The purpose of gajoks is to give students an opportunity to bond more closely with other KASA members. It is typical for the bigs to take care of their smalls similar to in a gajok where the older siblings take care of their younger siblings. It is cool to see the respect and age cultural dynamic being adopted and learned about first handedly by Koreans and non-Koreans alike in KASA. The gajok system is especially helpful this semester because underclassmen, especially freshmen, are trying to find ways to get to know other students on a more personal level. The new gajoks have already been established and KASA has held a few events already where the gajoks were able to meet and get to know each other.
