Lounge honors student's memory

The mood was light and upbeat as students, faculty and family members gathered in the main lobby of Mary Markley Residence Hall for the dedication of the Arati Sharangpani Lounge.

Smiles and bright faces filled the room in spite of the tragic event that brought this group together - the death of a University student.

"It's so great, so beautiful to have so many people here - new and old staff," said Markley Resident Director Joslyn Walson, who worked with Sharangpani.

Sharangpani was an LSA senior when she was killed in a Comair commuter plane crash near Detroit on January 9, 1997. She was returning from a final job interview with Proctor & Gamble in Cincinnati when her plane went into a nosedive 18 miles from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, killing all 26 passengers and three crew members aboard.

Dipti Sharangpani said the dedication in honor of her daughter was held at a very appropriate time and place.

The setting sun streamed directly into the center of the lounge as the dedication began, illuminating the podium where various speakers shared stories of how Sharangpani touched their lives.

"This is what she was," said Dipti Sharangpani, remarking on the sun and smiling.

Those who attended the dedication were invited to sign a mural on the lounge's wall. Quotes ranged from Business senior Soni Dani's, "You touched me in ways that I didn't even know ... until you were gone," to LSA senior Doug Barns', "4th Wing, RA/RD staff 96-97 rocks the house!"

Engineering senior Rudhir Patel opened the ceremony, followed by a poem about friendship by LSA senior Sama Faik. Faik said he "will never forget Arati's ability to have so many friends and to retain those friendships."

LSA sophomore Stacey Waxtan, a resident in the hall where Sharangpani was a resident adviser before her death, presented an excerpt from the book "Chicken Soup for the Soul." She reminded the audience, in the words of Mother Theresa, to spread love to all members of their life. "This lounge eternalizes our love and appreciation of her remarkable soul," Waxtan said.

T. Rose Roane, coordinator of residence education at Markley, said she was honored to have been asked to dedicate the lounge, but it was the students, she added, "who really made this happen." The 1996-97 Markley Student Council unanimously decided to make this contribution.

"A lot of lounges are dedicated after a professor," Barns said. "It's nice in a resident hall to have something named after a student."

Roane illustrated that "Arati was not an average student." She spoke of her efforts as an outstanding resident adviser and facilitator to the 21st Century Program, as well as her candidacy for bachelor of arts degrees in both German and organizational studies, which she was awarded posthumously.

Roane said Proctor & Gamble was very excited to hire Sharangpani. After speaking to the company's representative, Roane learned that the company was willing to place her anywhere she would have wanted to go.

Roane closed her speech by reminding those who attended "to act now ... because none of us are promised tomorrow," adding that Sharangpani "exemplified this power and magic combined with action."

"Life has to go on and that's why we are here," said Sharangpani's father, Anand Sharangpani.

03-16-98