Elizabethtown College prides itself on building and maintaining a community feel between students, faculty and staff. In order to uphold this standard, the College has adapted several traditions unique to Etown. These traditions are long-standing and are used to bring the community together several times during a school term.
Of these traditions, the most well-known happen on the same day. While they celebrate different holidays, Thanksgiving dinner and the tree lighting are packaged into one night of holiday festivities. These holiday festivities occurred last night.
The Marketplace, Concourse and KAV are rearranged to accommodate the students and servers. Thanksgiving dinner is the only dinner of the school year where students are served at their tables. Most Marketplace employees are given the night off to celebrate with friends.
Students are encouraged to dress up and enjoy a “family” holiday meal with friends while taking a break from schoolwork and stress. The family-style meal is served by volunteers and members of the faculty and staff to reward students for the work they have done until that point in the semester. After dinner, a photographer takes free family photos so that students can remember the event.
Dinner concludes at 7:30 p.m., which gives students time to travel to the tree lighting. Hot chocolate and cookies are available for the attendees. Thanksgiving dinner hasn’t changed much in the years since the idea’s inception, but the tree lighting has undergone a minor alteration. The tree to be lit is no longer in the Dell, but rather in the center of campus, directly in front of Zug Hall, which is the tree lighting’s original location.
The a cappella groups perform Christmas songs before the ceremony, and President Carl Strikwerda reads a story to the student body. He has read The Polar Express in past years because of a personal connection to the author. The story is always a surprise to students, though that doesn’t stop them from guessing which it will be this time.
In one evening, Etown students are able to celebrate two holidays with their College families. This tradition is a bright spot in the semester for many students, as it has been in past years.
