UGA India Night,

Aly Lakdawala

The Indian Cultural Exchange (ICE) is a non-profit student-led organization which strives to raise awareness about the culture of India, as well as serve local Athens communities. ICE has been one of the largest minority organizations on campus, and India Night has become one of the largest attractions at UGA as well as in Georgia. India Night was recognized by the university as having the “Most Outstanding Cultural Awareness Event” for 2003. ICE is a distinguished organization moving in a direction that its founders laid out over a decade ago by exchanging the culture with our Athens community.

The Indian Cultural Exchange works to bring the Indian community as well as the rest of the UGA community together through various cultural, social, political, and community service events. Such events include Gandhi week of service, blanket donations to the homeless, food donations to Athens non-profit organizations, volunteering at food banks and pet shelters, hosting Chai & Chaat discussions on prevalent social justice issues, collaborations with other UGA student-run, philanthropic organizations. For example, we incorporate an Indian cultural aspect when we co-host UGA Garba with Asha for Education, a non-profit raising funds to provide resources for school children in underprivileged communities.

The overall objective of the Indian Cultural Exchange is to encourage our general body to be agents of change within the community. By incorporating all of the elements that form the foundation of our organization, we have worked to establish a unique approach to spreading awareness and advocating for an informed and driven student body.