Mission
The Chinese American Students' Association (CASA) is one of Yale's largest and most active undergraduate student organizations. Its purpose is to promote awareness of Chinese and Chinese-American culture and identity among all members of the Yale community. We welcome students of all backgrounds who share an interest in culture, politics, community service, special projects, and/or social events.

About Us
CASA strives to enrich not only our own membership with the culture and issues that our members are interested in, but also the greater Yale community. We sponsor speakers, discussions and debates on a wide variety of topics concerning Chinese American and Chinese issues that many members of the Yale community are interested in.

CASA is a multi-faceted organization that really has something for everyone. Our members are very diverse and their involvement in CASA also varies. Some people make CASA a big part of their college lives, while some choose to participate in only one or two annual events that they find fulfilling. Whatever you choose to do, we hope that you look into what CASA has to offer.

Those of us involved in CASA think of CASA as a family. It is a smaller community within the larger Yale community. To cultivate this sense of community, CASA offers opportunities for freshmen to get to know CASA upperclassmen through “CASA families.” Freshmen that sign up to be in CASA families are given two “parents,” who are upperclassmen, and a “sibling,” who is also a freshman. These families are often the basis for friendships that last throughout all of college and beyond. CASA parents take their kids out for good food, give them advice about college life, and act as friends and mentors.

CASA also holds many other social events throughout the year. There is the annual Turnover Banquet, which features a nice dinner and presentation in which the previous year's executive board “passes the torch” to the next year. It is always an entertaining event that much of the CASA membership looks forward to. We have mixers and joint-events with other student organizations, such as TAS, KASY, and ViSA. We also hold study breaks and movie nights, which means free Chinese food and the company of great people. As you will learn, many of the social events at CASA revolve around food. We have a BBQ to welcome the freshmen, a dumpling hot pot night during Chinese New Year, a huge cultural dinner in which the board cooks for everyone in CASA, and CASA-wide family days on and off campus that always involve plenty of good food.

While food is something we love, CASA is definitely about more than just food and social events. One of the sides of CASA that often appeals to even non-CASA members is our political side. In the past year, we have hosted lectures by Professors Jonathan Spence, Daniel Tauss, and Jessica Weiss as part of our Dinner Roundtable series. These events were campus-wide events that were of interest to many CASA as well as non-CASA members. If you're interested in Chinese-American or Chinese issues, CASA's political committee is something that you should definitely get involved in.

CASA also loves to celebrate Chinese culture. One of our largest events is the Cultural Show. Around 50 students were involved in production of the show, and about 300 people attended last year. This show draws on the talents of the entire CASA community and is a huge collaboration that involves acting, a Wu Shu performance, Lion Dance, Phoenix Dance Troupe (traditional Chinese dance), a hip hop show, a fashion show, and many other acts. If you're interested in any of the above or anything related to performance (ie. lighting, props, set construction, costumes, singing, dancing, acting etc.), cultural show is a great event to get involved in.

Finally, CASA prides itself on our involvement beyond the Yale community. We volunteer at local New Haven public schools in a Cultural Awareness Program. The semi-annual Chinese Adopted Siblings Program at Yale (CASPY) pairs undergraduates with adopted Chinese children from the tri-state area. The undergraduates are able to form tight bonds with their CASPY sibs and their families that last for many years. In addition to being very fulfilling to the Yale students that participate in the community events, these events provide a huge service to a larger community beyond Yale.

It's hard to explain in one page just how great of an organization CASA is, so we encourage you to find out for yourself. Come out to our events, meet the people that make CASA what it is and you will see why we all love CASA so much. CASA puts on great, meaningful events, but the best part of CASA is the people. The people are what make the CASA community and CASA events great. What that means is that YOU are the future of CASA, and we all look forward to meeting you!