About KASA
Founded in 1972, the Korean American Student Association (KASA) at UCLA is one of the largest and most active Asian American student organizations on campus, a home for Korean American students, and a welcoming space for anyone drawn to Korean culture and community.
Our doors are open to students of every background, regardless of race, religion, political belief, gender, or sexual orientation, because a community grows richer for every perspective it welcomes.
Based in Los Angeles, home to the largest Korean American population in the country, UCLA KASA sits at the center of a remarkably rich network of resources and opportunities. Whether you come looking for friendship, mentorship, cultural connection, or a place to grow as a leader, KASA is here to welcome you in.
Our Pillars
Everything we do at KASA grows out of three commitments, each one carried forward by generations of members before us.
Community Building
Arriving at a university as vast as UCLA can be an isolating experience, and we believe no student should have to face it alone. Our sunbae-hoobae Family Program takes its name from the Korean words for a more experienced peer and one who is newer, and reimagines that tradition for campus life. Incoming students, our "littles," are welcomed by upperclassmen "bigs," and together they form small families that study together, share meals, and grow into something larger over time, until whole generations of grand-bigs and grand-littles form a kind of family tree within the organization. Throughout the year, we bring the wider community together through interactive events we design and host ourselves, from social mixers to game nights, giving members countless chances to meet, connect, and find their people within KASA.
Professional Development
We are as invested in where our members are going as we are in where they are now. KASA helps students navigate the milestones of college life, from the uncertainty of freshman year to the questions that arrive after commencement, and offers guidance and connections along the way. Through mentorship from sunbaes who have walked the path before them, and through KASA's network of alumni and industry contacts, members gain access to job and internship opportunities and the kind of practical wisdom that only comes from those who have gone first. Just as valuably, running an organization of KASA's size teaches its own lessons: budgeting, planning, recruitment, and leadership skills that serve members long after graduation.
Cultural Education
KASA gives Korean American students a place where their heritage is not a subject to be studied but a lived and celebrated part of daily life, and we extend that same invitation to any student curious about Korean culture, regardless of background. We bring this pillar to life through events with a distinctly historical bent, teaching traditional Korean games, exploring modern Korean culture, and offering members a way into the Korean language, alongside the everyday exchange of story and tradition that happens simply by being part of this community. In doing so, we work to build understanding both within our community and beyond it.
Our History
Founded in 1972, UCLA KASA is among the oldest Korean American student organizations in the United States. Across more than fifty years, the organization has grown and changed with each new generation, yet its founding values have endured: community, cultural identity, cultural education, and leadership.
That endurance owes much to a tradition of friendly rivalry. For nearly two decades, UCLA's Dance Off team, made up traditionally of freshmen with no dance experience required, competed against Korean American student organizations from across Southern California. Between 2000 and 2019, UCLA consistently ranked among the top teams, taking first place eleven times. For many members, Dance Off remains their most formative introduction to KASA, the moment a room of strangers first became something closer to family.
Our history is also a civic one. KASA has long understood itself as part of a larger story of Korean American life in Los Angeles, and our members' involvement in community institutions and cultural programming reflects that inheritance. Our alumni, too, have carried KASA's lessons in leadership and advocacy far beyond Westwood, among them former Los Angeles City Councilmember David Ryu, who has credited his years in Korean American and Asian American student organizations at UCLA with shaping his path toward public service.
Through changing generations, technologies, and campus cultures, one thing has never wavered: KASA's commitment to a community where Korean American identity, in all its many forms, can be explored, celebrated, and shared.