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Cal Sikh Alumni hail Berkeley
past graduates
WSN Network
 BERKELEY:
On
Saturday May 2, 2009,
the Cal Sikh Alumni Association and the Sikh Students Association of
the University of California Berkeley
held their 2nd annual alumni dinner in order to remember and honor
past graduates of
Berkeley as well as commend those who are graduating from the
university this year.
Working with CSAA President Dr. JP Singh and Secretary Dr. Joty
Sikand, students first remembered and honored the late Dalip Singh
Saundh and Bhagat Singh Thind. Dalip Singh Saund, who earned a
Ph.D. in mathematics from Berkeley in 1924 became the first Asian,
Indian and Sikh American to be elected to the United States Congress
in 1956. Bhagat Singh Thind served in the US Army during World War
I. In 1923, The US Supreme Court denied him citizenship, accepting
him as Caucasion but not as “White”.
The evening went on to honor the successful alumni who graduated
during 1960s and have shown leadership in their professions and
commitment to serve the Sikh community. They were: (1) Nirmal Singh
Cheema, class of 1960, a successful engineer with Department of
Water Resources and has saved near one half million in cremation
costs to the Sikh Community; (2) Dr. Onkar Singh Bindra (1960)
retired entomologist and an advocate of educating students of all
levels about Sikhism; (3) Avtar Singh Sandhu (1963) a successful
structural engineer, winery owner (Mushal Winery in Sonoma) and
hospital owner in Gurgaon; (4) Sarwan Singh Gill (1964) a successful
owner of four Indian Restaurants and now a owner of My Video Talk;
(5) Ajit Singh Randhava (1967), a successful owner of the first Sikh
owned structural firm in Los Angeles Area, Ajit Singh Randhava &
Associates and for providing structural engineering services to El
Sobrante, Vermont, Lakershim and Orange County Gurudwaras; (6) Dr.
Ran bir
Singh Sandhu (1968), Professor Emeritus Ohio State University,
Columbus, Ohio; Author of book "Struggle for Justice" related to
1984 massacre, founder member World Sikh Organization and
participant in many World Interfaith Activities; (7) Dr. Amarjit
Singh Bal (1970) a successful inmate educator with State of
California Department of Corrections; author of book countering
Mcleodian analysis of Sikhism and (8) Kartar Singh Sidhu Brar (1970)
a retired colonel from Indian Army who restarted a dynamic career
with a degree in Business from UC Berkeley at the age of 44. Each
honoree was awarded with a certificate that read: “We honor you with
the Distinguished Cal Sikh Alumni Award, In Recognition of Your
Commitment to Excellence that Inspires us all to Dream, Believe,
Achieve, and Succeed.”
The organizers also recognized (1) Hardeep Dhillon, Bhavreet Gill,
Rattanamol Singh, Ashveerpal Singh and Robin Kang for their service
to the campus community and (2) graduating seniors: Bali Gill,
Gurshant Grewal, Harliv Hans, Mike Johal; Gaurav Mansher-Singh
Kumar, Jagdeep Samra, Simrun Sandhu, Anpreet Singh and Jaskaran Virk.
The event was held at the Alumni house. The evening was filled with
fond memories of Cal, as well as optimism for an even brighter
future full of success for Sikhs at CAL.
6
May 2009
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