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.
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