Dublin Core
Title
Oral History: Dhaval Shah
Subject
Oral Histories
Description
Dhaval Shah is a Hindu Indian-American Virginia Tech alumnus from West Virginia who attended the university in 2000–2005. He earned a Bachelor of Science in accounting and information systems with a minor in computer science. During his time at Virginia Tech, he participated in a wide range of extracurricular activities as a strong leader for both the Asian-American students and the overall student body.
Dhaval was a part of the Society of Indian Americans (SIA), which was a constituent of Asian American Student Union (AASU). He quickly became a member of AASU and eventually became vice president and subsequently president a semester later. Dhaval inducted two organizations to the union, Sigma Beta Rho and the Japanese Cultural Association. Additionally, in April 2005, he initiated the first annual celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, with one of the biggest events performed by Indian-Canadian comedian Russell Peters.
Dhaval also served as a student representative to the Student Government Association for two years. He was a student representative for AASU and SIA. Those same two years, he was vice chair of the Student Budget Board. He also served as an RA and joined the Residence Hall Federation (RHF), Residential & Dining Program (RDP), and the National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH). He also participated on the Commission of Student Affairs (CSA), and was one of the founding members of Hokies United.
A major event that occurred while Dhaval was at Tech was September 11, and he remembers watching the news in his chemistry class and then being dismissed for the day. At the time, Virginia Tech’s Fifth Annual Celebration of Diversity Show was supposed to be held in Burruss Hall the next day. While university administrators wanted them to cancel the event in fear of student riots, Dhaval said he and other student leaders believed that this was only a greater reason to have the celebration, to showcase and support the diverse groups on Virginia Tech’s campus. But, there was a small riot outside of the show. Moreover, diverse groups and cultural organizations began to separate from each other. In response, Dhaval and other student leaders formed Hokies United, with the goal to raise money for the American Red Cross in New York as well as to unite all students on campus again. They raised seventy thousand dollars.
“President Steger gave us commendation for it and told us that if anything, God forbid, ever happened again, we would rise to the occasion again, which we did in December of 2003, when the Southeast Asian tsunami happened. We raised a hundred thousand dollars for UNICEF for that. So, that shows you what our leadership and time was at Tech regarding all those big incidents, and being an Asian student and to be there for our Asian community.”
Now, Dhaval is a social media coordinator for the Virginia Tech Alumni Association in the Baltimore region. Moreover, he works at the headquarters of Social Security Administration as an IT Specialist. As someone who is interested in politics, Dhaval has campaigned for numerous people, and he joined the Young Democrats of Howard County where he became political director, and then president in 2017. In 2018, he ran for a local election position to be a party member of the Howard County Democratic Central Committee. He is the first Gujarati-Indian origin to be elected in Howard County, Maryland for any elected position.
Dhaval was a part of the Society of Indian Americans (SIA), which was a constituent of Asian American Student Union (AASU). He quickly became a member of AASU and eventually became vice president and subsequently president a semester later. Dhaval inducted two organizations to the union, Sigma Beta Rho and the Japanese Cultural Association. Additionally, in April 2005, he initiated the first annual celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, with one of the biggest events performed by Indian-Canadian comedian Russell Peters.
Dhaval also served as a student representative to the Student Government Association for two years. He was a student representative for AASU and SIA. Those same two years, he was vice chair of the Student Budget Board. He also served as an RA and joined the Residence Hall Federation (RHF), Residential & Dining Program (RDP), and the National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH). He also participated on the Commission of Student Affairs (CSA), and was one of the founding members of Hokies United.
A major event that occurred while Dhaval was at Tech was September 11, and he remembers watching the news in his chemistry class and then being dismissed for the day. At the time, Virginia Tech’s Fifth Annual Celebration of Diversity Show was supposed to be held in Burruss Hall the next day. While university administrators wanted them to cancel the event in fear of student riots, Dhaval said he and other student leaders believed that this was only a greater reason to have the celebration, to showcase and support the diverse groups on Virginia Tech’s campus. But, there was a small riot outside of the show. Moreover, diverse groups and cultural organizations began to separate from each other. In response, Dhaval and other student leaders formed Hokies United, with the goal to raise money for the American Red Cross in New York as well as to unite all students on campus again. They raised seventy thousand dollars.
“President Steger gave us commendation for it and told us that if anything, God forbid, ever happened again, we would rise to the occasion again, which we did in December of 2003, when the Southeast Asian tsunami happened. We raised a hundred thousand dollars for UNICEF for that. So, that shows you what our leadership and time was at Tech regarding all those big incidents, and being an Asian student and to be there for our Asian community.”
Now, Dhaval is a social media coordinator for the Virginia Tech Alumni Association in the Baltimore region. Moreover, he works at the headquarters of Social Security Administration as an IT Specialist. As someone who is interested in politics, Dhaval has campaigned for numerous people, and he joined the Young Democrats of Howard County where he became political director, and then president in 2017. In 2018, he ran for a local election position to be a party member of the Howard County Democratic Central Committee. He is the first Gujarati-Indian origin to be elected in Howard County, Maryland for any elected position.
Creator
[no text]
Source
[no text]
Publisher
[no text]
Date
2000-2005
Contributor
[no text]
Rights
[no text]
Relation
[no text]
Format
[no text]
Language
[no text]
Type
Oral History
Identifier
[no text]
Coverage
[no text]
Oral History Interview Item Type Metadata
Interviewee
Dhaval Shah
Interviewer
Tahreem Alam
Duration
44:20