Overview

Overview of SCI:

Students Council of India (SCI) is a registered graduate students' organization at the University of Maryland, College Park. Since its inception in 1999, SCI has been very active, growing in size and stature with each passing year. SCI's primary objective is to serve the graduate student community at UMD and promote interaction among them. One of the most important goals of SCI is to act as an ambassador of the Indian students on campus, paying close attention to their needs, and promoting the diverse and rich Indian culture. To achieve this, we organize various cultural and social events at the University of Maryland, and attract participation from not only Indians, but also students from other cultural backgrounds. SCI organizes cultural events, celebrates festivals of India, screens Indian movies and host sports events in an attempt to create a fun-filled environment at UMD, at the same time introducing various facades of Indian culture and traditions. SCI devotes maximum efforts in helping the new and incoming Indian students.

Airport Pick-ups & Temporary Accomodation:

Every Year, SCI provides airport piok-ups and temporary accomodation for all the incoming students to help them start their journey in the Unites States in an easy manner.

Events:

Every Fall, SCI organizes 'Welcome and Orientation Party' with the aim of to provide a warm and friendly welcome to incoming international graduate students. UMD has a high intake of international students and this event helps to set a platform where the students can interact and communicate with other fellow graduate students and share their culture and ideas. This program includes a range of events including games, performances, Indian Dinner and DJ dance floor.

'Indian New Year is also named 'Festival of Lights' and is one of the biggest festivals of India celebrated across the country by one and all! SCI celebrates Indian New Year to capture this spirit of India and aim at giving everyone at UMD the feel of Indian culture. The program invites everyone in and around campus to be a part of this tradition and celebrate India!

'SPARSH' is the annual cultural event organized by SCI. Sparsh is SCI's flagship event, and it is one of the largest events on campus that showcases Indian culture. It is a one day event which takes place for around 11 hours. . We host a range of events and activities at Sparsh, including group discussions, poster competitions, song competitions, general knowledge quizzes, dumb charades, classical and rock music performances, dances, stage shows, and many other small events. The event offers a great opportunity for various students to interact, learn from each other, and have loads of fun.