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Celebrating 5 Years of YJ Students
Compiled by Pooja Jain
YJS: A History
Contributors & Founders: Suraj Shah, Amil Tolia, Bhavin Shah & Priya Kothari
YJS started in January 2003 as the Jain Student Network, with the intention of forming a national network of like-minded university students who were exploring Jain Dharma in their own unique way, and felt the need for Jain representation at university. Various nodes began at Manchester, Warwick, Cambridge, Oxford, Aston and Leicester, with more on the way. Young Jains took JSN under its wing so that the right resources would reach each of the nodes. This collaboration led to the Jain Student Network transforming into Young Jains Students with a network today of over 700 students!
UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK www.sunion.warwick.ac.uk/jain
Contributors: Namrata Shah
Year of founding? 2002
Reason for founding? Allow people of similar interests and backgrounds to interact.
Past Presidents? Anokhee Shah, Namrata Shah & Shraddha Mehta
Biggest Challenge? Raising money for events.
Warwick students visit Leicester in 2005
Proudest Achievement? Holding the Diwali Ball 2005. It was a successful large-scale event with more attendees than expected. The number of members doubled in 2005-6 as a result.
Events? Events range from socials where members can meet and interact casually to formal talks on Jainism with speakers from London.
Number of members / attendees? We have 60-80 members, and of those 20-30 are active.
Other facilities offered? We offer YJS newsletters and have a YJ Warwick website with regular updates of socials and events as well as information on Jainism and past events/ photos.
Future goals? To become more integrated with the Jain societies around the country.■
Jain Education International
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD http://groupspaces.com/yjso Contributors: Minesh Shah, Palvi Shah & Paarul Shah
Year of founding? 2003 Founders? Palvi Shah
Reason for founding? We set out to provide an informal environment where Jains and non-Jains could come together to discuss various topics and consider the Jain opinion on the subject matter.
Past Presidents? Palvi Shah, Minesh Shah, Sagar Shah & Siddharta Haria
Biggest Challenge? Attracting students to events throughout the year. As with most societies in Oxford, there is always a lot of enthusiasm in the first term but attendance gradually drops as the year progresses. Proudest Achievement? The society was given a huge boost in April 2004 when it received a visit from Samanjis Pratibha Pragyaji and Punya Pragyaji to discuss Jainism in the modern and business world.
Events? Topics cover different Jain principles in today's society including the relevance of rituals and the Jain view on drugs and alcohol. We have collaborative events with other religious societies in Oxford including a meditation session with the Buddhist Meditation Society. Last year, the society was able to organise a successful event in conjunction with a restaurant in Oxford which prepared Jain food especially for the society. YJS has participated in wider YJS events.
Number of members attendees? YJSO has often seen as many as thirty-five people at the initial event with as few as five towards exam time but in recent years, the society has seen at least fifteen people attending events on a regular basis.
Other facilities offered? We establish a sizeable mailing list each year at the University Freshers' Fair.■
Something different in London...
Jayni Gudka, a second-year at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), is in the process of setting up a Jaina Studies Society at her university. Hoping to hold events in conjunction with Young Jains, they will also be open to other universities in London. At present the group has 16 members, most of which are non-Jains, but students of Jaina Studies. The group will take part in the annual Jain Conference at SOAS, as well as contribute to the Jaina Studies Newsletter published annually at SOAS.
Jayni's efforts are supported by Ashik Shah and Rishma Shah and we wish her luck in this venture!
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