VistaTech

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Dinner, music and more part of Hindu festival

Schoolcraft College’s Asian Students Association will present Navratri Garba on Friday, October 1, from 7 p.m. to midnight in the VisTaTech Center. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. Children 5 and younger are free.

Navratri is a Hindu festival that takes place over nine nights. The word “Navratri” is a conjunction of the two words “nava” (meaning “nine”) and “ratri” (meaning “night”). This festival is devoted to the Mother Goddess known variously as Durga, Kali, Bhavani, Amba, and Chandika.

A group of people dancing in a circle holding hands
Garba and Dandiya Raas are two of the popular dance forms.

Garba is one of the dance forms. Dandiya Raas, from the state of Gujarat, is a popular dance form as well.

Navratri customs include:

  • During the nine days of Navratri, feasting and fasting take precedence over all normal daily activities among Hindu people. 
  • Evenings give rise to the religious dances in order to worship Goddess Durga Maa.
  • Mother Goddess is seen as personification of strength, courage, knowledge, wealth, art, fertility and love.
  • Water, mango leaves, rice, coconut, betel leaves, haldi, kumkum and ritual fire (aarti) all help celebrate the supreme mother and her divinity.
Three women and a baby standing and smiling for the camera
All are welcome at Navratri Garba.

You can purchase advance tickets for Navratri Garba from:

  • Schoolcraft College Student Activities Office (lower level of VisTaTech Center)
  • Call 734-462-4422

OR

  • Taj Cottage
  • 8429 Grand River Ave, Farmington Hills, 48335
  • Call Rachna Chandra, 734-620-4933

The ticket includes an Indian dinner catered by The Taste of India Suvai and live music. Indian clothes and jewelry will be available for purchase as well. 

All proceeds will go toward the Schoolcraft Student Food Pantry, a program that is dedicated to providing non-perishable food items to students and their families who are impacted by financial hardship.

Our thanks to Dr. Anna Maheshwari, Chair of the English Department, for her assistance with this story.

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Schoolcraft College soon will be adding an important facility that will benefit students and the community in the key industry of Southeast Michigan thanks to a generous philanthropic gift, the largest single gift commitment by an individual that the College has received.   

The Frank E. and Bessie Angileri Quality Institute, to be housed in the VisTaTech Center on Schoolcraft’s Livonia campus, will offer a venue to interested students, faculty and industry professionals to convene and explore issues and potential solutions that advance the standards and best practices of automotive quality control. 

Its benefactor, Frank E. Angileri, is a retired SQA (Supplier Quality Assurance) engineer from Ford Motor Company. He was born in Sicily and holds a degree in economics from the University of Palermo. The Angileri Quality Institute is also named in honor of Angileri’s late wife, Bessie.

Two men looking at large computer screen

“This generous gift from Mr. Angileri and his family will be a great benefit to our students and the community,” said Dr. Glenn Cerny, President of Schoolcraft College. “We look forward to opening the Angileri Quality Institute on our campus very soon. The automotive industry is vital to Southeast Michigan and our country, and we’re proud that in the very near future we will have a first-rate facility right here at Schoolcraft College that will contribute to its success.”