On behalf of your Central Student Government, please allow me to extend my warm wishes to you on this auspicious Mid-Autumn Festival. Here at Michigan, we have a considerable East Asian population and we want you to know that your traditions and culture enrich our campus community and are very important to us.
We know that this day is among the most important holidays in the Chinese calendar and it’s also celebrated widely in Vietnam and Taiwan, among other places. This ancient holiday started at least during the Tang dynasty, so it’s truly a very rich tradition, passed down from generation to generation.
This year, your Central Student Government will strive to be even more inclusive and welcoming. We would love to celebrate the wonderful holidays and festivals that are meaningful to all members of our student body.
Our outstanding Chair of the Minority Affairs Commission, Julia Papiyants, would love to hear from you regarding how you celebrated your Mid-Autumn Festival — so please e-mail her at jpapiyan@umich.edu, and feel free to ask her how you can join this Commission as well! If there’s anything that I can personally do to make your Michigan experience better, I’m always just an e-mail away — mrparikh@umich.edu.
“May we live long and share the beauty of the moon together, even if we are hundreds of miles apart,” says a beautiful ancient poem. Today, many of you are away from your families, and whether you choose to light a lantern or follow some other rich traditions of the day, we thank you for making our community so rich and diverse, and hope you have a wonderful Mid-Autumn Festival, filled with happiness, celebration and laughter.
I join members of your elected Assembly, your vice president Omar Hashwi, your Minority Affairs Commission chair Julia Papiyants and everyone else from our CSG family, in sending our warmest wishes.
Manish Parikh is CSG President.