The Chinese Students and Scholars Association at University of Washington (UWCSSA) was founded in 1984 by Chinese students and scholars at University of Washington. It is an independent, non-profit organization officially registered at the student association of University of Washington. We are committed to promoting mutual understanding, mutual assistance, and mutual benefits among CSSA members, and we are dedicated to contributing to cultural diversity of the University of Washington, and the greater Seattle area.
Currently, we have over 3,600 members, mostly Chinese students and scholars studying or working at UW or having graduated from UW, but also including families and friends of Chinese students and scholars at UW. We also have close ties with local Chinese community and have contacts with several other major Chinese organizations in the greater Seattle area. With our large membership, UW-CSSA has been playing an active and influential role in sponsoring and organizing activities on the UW campus as well as in the Chinese community of the greater Seattle area, mobilizing local Chinese community and promoting Chinese culture.
Our goals are to:
Assist CSSA-UW members to smoothly and successfully adapt to their lives here in the greater Seattle area by providing all aspects of services to them;
Improve CSSA-UW members’ lives here by holding various social activities to enhance mutual friendships; Enhance the members’ relationships with people in the community by networking with other Chinese in the greater Seattle area and anyone who is interested in Chinese culture or in promoting friendship with Chinese students and scholars;
Facilitate cultural exchange between Chinese and American people by introducing Chinese culture, philosophy, art, and history to UW and the local community.
To reach our goals, CSSA-UW provides various services and organizes various activities to its members as well as Chinese community in greater Seattle area. Our major services include: Parties for celebration of major Chinese festivals; Orientation and reception to new Chinese students or scholars, including consultation for new students; Entertainment, sports and game activities; Distributing various information/messages, ranging from cultural activities in local Chinese community, job opportunities in Seattle, to housing and yard selling information from/to members via the CSSA discussion board; Sponsoring various seminars or presentations related to Chinese students, such as seminars on visa application, or on career development; Supporting or coordinating Chinese students to participate in cross-cultural activities on UW campus.
Over the years CSSA-UW has organized many large events, including the annually New Student Welcome Party and the Chinese New Year Celebration, which attracted hundreds of students, scholars, and Chinese professionals in the greater Seattle area, as well as VIPs including the consul of China San Francisco. Besides these annually large events, we also regularly organize and coordinate some social activities, ranging from weekly ping pong games and soccer games, to quarterly or semi-quarterly Chinese movie shows, dancing parties, and outdoor trips. We are looking forward to welcoming more new members to provide services to more fellow Chinese students and scholars, and to reaching out more into the local community to further promote understanding of Chinese culture in the Seattle area.
