Sikhs On Campus at UBC is a collective of community volunteers with the goal to help students become confident as mature and proud Sikhs. As like-minded friends, we support Sikh students and their families with a home away from home. All students, regardless of where they may be on their Sikh journey, are invited to join our extended family as we celebrate our faith, community, culture, and commonly-held values. We are all one.
At Sikhs on Campus, Sikh students and families know they can reach out for help and guidance. With the generous backing of local Sikhs, we help with tasks as simple as answering questions for first-time students, introducing students to a network of local families, and sponsoring various faith-centric activities.
Join us in the practice of selfless community service (Seva) as we feed the homeless in Vancouver alongside an award-winning and long-standing local Sikh charity, Guru Nanak’s Free Kitchen. Come along with us to celebrate the colours, flavours, and proud history of Baisakhi with 500,000 local Sikhs at the world’s largest Nagar Kirtan outside India. Sikhs on Campus is a place where being part of the Sikh community is fun.
About Sikhs on campus at UBC
About the Sikh faith
In the true Sikh spirit of inclusiveness, everyone is welcome and nobody is ever turned away from Sangat (fellowship). Through Seva and a faith-based celebration of Chardi-Kala (eternal optimism and joy), Sikhs on Campus fosters a spirit of peace (Sukhmani) and joy (Anand). We always share the principles and teachings of Sikhism with anyone who wishes to learn. Of course, in accordance with Sikh ideals, we never push religious conversion.
The word Sikh means ‘one who learns’ (a disciple or student). Sikhs are on a spiritual journey to learn about, master, and adopt a set of universal values.
- Equality (Ekta, no discrimination of gender and religion)
- Charity (Seva, community service)
- Protection and Empathy (Daya, understand and help the vulnerable)
- Truth (Sat, see the world as it is and speak to it truthfully)
- Contentment; (Santokh, free the mind from fear and worry by accepting reality for what it is)
- Humility (Nimrata, know that you are not superior or above others)
- Love (Pyar, love all of God’s creation unconditionally and see goodness in all)
Our philosophy
Sikhs believe that all creation is attributed to a single, universal, shapeless, timeless, and genderless Creator referred to as ‘WaheGuru’.
Wa (or Va): Wonder in the divine light.
Guru: Spiritual darkness (Gu) is illuminated (Ru).
Sikhs view humanity as one, with no single religion claiming superiority over another. Various religious beliefs are separate pathways leading all believers to the same Creator. This belief of the one-and-only Creator is referred to as ‘Ik-Onkar’.
Ik: One and only one
Oang: Creator
Kar: Creation
About the Sikh Chaplain
Mr. Inderjeet Singh (Indy), a proud father of two, has devoted more than 35 years to building and driving education, community support, and faith-centric programs for Sikh youth in North America and Asia. His passion is to connect the divide between today’s youth interests and traditionally-inspired spiritual practices.
Mr. Singh blends modern-western with conventional-eastern pedagogic methods to create a holistic, relevant, and engaging experience for students. Through this approach, he has coordinated Sikh youth camps which run in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the United States, and Canada since the early 1990’s.
For the past 10 years, Mr. Singh has been developing and conducting his latest programs for 200 youth in New Westminster, BC (Sukh Sagar Gurdwara). He coaches and mentors youth volunteers, educating and empowering them to run camps, classes, and events focused on religious philosophy, citizenship, culture, and social and communications skills.
Mr. Singh also serves as a volunteer coordinator for Guru Nanak’s Free Kitchen, an award-winning program to feed the homeless in Vancouver’s Eastside, serving nearly 50,000 meals per year to the less fortunate.
MADD Canada (Vancouver chapter), appointed Mr. Singh to their Board in 2022 to serve as their South-Asian Liaison, and to help bring awareness of the dangers of impaired driving.
Mr. Singh holds a Master of Education degree and Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Bowling Green University (BGSU - Ohio, USA), where he advised student groups on good governance and ethics while supervising 16 graduate House Directors as Area Coordinator for Greek Affairs in the Office of Residence Life. For over 15 years, Mr. Singh has worked as a Senior Instructor, Corporate Trainer and Coach, and Marketing Manager in Canada and Malaysia.
Mr. Singh is a practicing Sikh and community advocate, fluent in written and spoken English, Punjabi, Hindi, and Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia.
You can contact Mr. Singh by emailing chaplain@sikhsoncampus.com, or by calling him at 604 723 8850.
Services and events
Visit Sikhs on Campus to connect with the Sikh community at UBC and learn about upcoming events.