History
There was Turkish student presence on the Stanford campus even in 1936 according to the issue of the newspaper The Stanford Daily on May 22, 1942.
The issues of The Stanford Daily on October 8, 1942; May 13, 1942; November 14, 1944; May 30, 1945; February 5, 1946; February 7, 1946; February 18, 1946; April 4, 1946; May 30, 1946 and May 8, 1959 show Turkish student presence in International Club ("I" Club) in those times. According to the issue of The Stanford Daily on May 30, 1945, twenty-five countries had been represented by members in International Club. A Turkish student, Servet Duran, even served as the president of International Club in the spring and autumn quarters of 1944 according to the issue of The Stanford Daily on May 30, 1945. Also, according to the issue of The Stanford Daily on May 8, 1959, another Turkish student, Ahmet Okan Gurel, was elected as the president of International Club to preside from May 1959 to April 1960.
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Figures (from leftmost top to rightmost bottom): Mentioning of Turkish students in International Club (I-Club) on the issues of The Stanford Daily on October 8, 1942; May 13, 1942; November 14, 1944; May 30, 1945; February 5, 1946; February 7, 1946; February 18, 1946; April 4, 1946; May 30, 1946 and May 8, 1959, respectively.
The oldest account of a Turkish organization at Stanford University, as far as known by the writer when this sentence was written, is Turkish Friendship Club, which is mentioned on the issues of the newspaper The Stanford Daily on May 9, 1947 and May 12, 1947. Ismail Guralp (or Gurlap as the surname appears different in different issues) is the oldest known president, as far as known by the writer when this sentence was written, of a Turkish organization at Stanford University based on the issues of the newspaper The Stanford Daily on May 9, 1947 and May 12, 1947.
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Figures: Mentioning of Turkish Friendship Club on the issues of The Stanford Daily on May 9, 1947 (left) and May 12, 1947 (right)
Considering the Turkish student presence in International Club on the various issues of The Stanford Daily from 1942 to 1946 (the issues of October 8, 1942; May 13, 1942; November 14, 1944; May 30, 1945; February 5, 1946; February 7, 1946; February 18, 1946; April 4, 1946; May 30, 1946) without mentioning Turkish Friendship Club as well as considering the mentioning of Turkish Friendship Club on the issues of The Stanford Daily on May 9, 1947 and May 12, 1947, it is probable that Turkish Friendship Club might be founded sometime between 1946-1947.
On the other hand, we do not know the foundation year of "Stanford Turkish Student Association" with its own name. We are not even sure whether Turkish Friendship Club changed its name to Stanford Turkish Student Association at some point or whether Stanford Turkish Student Association was independently opened afterwards.
However, there is a "tüzük" (bylaw) of "Stanford Türk Öğrenci Derneği" (Stanford Turkish Student Association) written in Turkish from March 13, 1978. The bylaw is attached below. In that bylaw, the name of organization appears in a Turkish version "Stanford Türk Öğrenci Derneği". Also, from that document, we understand that "Stanford Türk Öğrenci Derneği" was existed even in March 27, 1977. In fact, the president in March 13, 1978, Abdurrahman Satman, said that "Stanford Türk Öğrenci Derneği" always existed when he was there from September 1974 to May 1980.
The foundation year of Stanford Turkish Student Association is accepted as 1979 since its name, as it is in English, appear on the issue of the newspaper The Stanford Daily on April 18, 1979.
The latest (hence the current) logo of Stanford Turkish Student Association was elected in a logo election held on May 4, 2017. The new logo was elected out of 24 options.
The latest (hence the current) constitution of Stanford Turkish Student Association was chosen on May 19, 2017. It was accepted in a constitution amendment meeting on May 19, 2017. It was a referendum in which members of Stanford Turkish Student Association could vote by secret ballot, and the result was that the constitution proposal was accepted. The chosen constitution became the current constitution of Stanford Turkish Student Association after further approval by Student Activities and Leadership of Stanford University about May 23, 2017.
In May 2017, a university archivist was contacted to check the archives for Stanford Turkish Student Association. An archived folder (SC0368, Box 7, Folder 33) (http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt2j49r7nt/dsc/?query=Stanford%20Turkish%20Student%20Association;dsc.position=1#hitNum1) was discovered. After it was checked, many people were contacted via e-mail. As a result of these actions, in May and early June 2017, most of former executive boards which were found or learned to have served before 2016-2017 were listed. The list continued to progress. The current list can be reached in the Executive Board section of the website.
The Facebook page of Stanford Turkish Student Association was founded on May 3, 2018. The Facebook page replaced Stanford Turkish Student Association's Facebook group which was opened about 2007.
The latest (hence the current) website of Stanford Turkish Student Association was founded on June 1, 2018. It is a Stanford Sites website. It replaced the previous website which was created using Google Sites about 2015-2016 and another older website TSAWiki which was a wiki platform set up about 2007.
The history section in the website of Stanford Turkish Student Association was founded on June 5, 2018.
To access to The Stanford Daily Archive: https://stanforddailyarchive.com/
Writer(s):
Yasin Büyükalp