by Lauren McGuire, Student Public Relations Writer
Be thankful and be merry. That’s the idea behind this year’s Campus Christmas celebration at Cedarville University beginning October 30 in the Stevens Student Center (SSC) and other campus locations, including Cedar Lake.
Although it will look significantly different than previous years due to protocols set in place because of COVID-19, Cedarville’s Campus Activity Board is working hard to make adjustments to the annual celebration of the upcoming Christmas holiday and the completion of the semester.
Trees that generally fill the SSC will now also be placed in the Dixon Ministry Center (DMC), Center for Biblical and Theological Studies, and Centennial Library to help spread the holiday cheer and also spread students, faculty and staff to multiple sites to minimize the number of people in any one location.
“Our goal is to create spaces through decorations where students can be thankful and merry,” said Brian Burns, director of campus experience.
On November 21, Cedarville will hold its traditional Campus Christmas. Just like in previous years, students can take part in a free holiday breakfast served by Pioneer College Caterers. This year, four rotations of 500 students at a time will filter through the SSC dining hall. Cedarville’s improv group, DTR, will perform a live comedy show during the breakfast.
“A lot of student organizations aren’t able to do events this year, so we wanted to try and incorporate them into this event where possible,” said Burns.
There will be two showings of the movie “Elf” in the DMC Jeremiah Chapel, and cookie decorating will take place at Chick-fil-A, with individual bags of icing to comply with health protocols. Instead of a traditional karaoke night, a trivia night will take place in Chick-fil-A as well. Instead of a train ride offered around the SSC, it will now be offered around Cedar Lake.
“Even in the decorations, we want to show thankfulness for even making it to Thanksgiving and through the semester,” Burns said. “But we also want to celebrate together with the upcoming Christmas holiday and be merry.”
The Advancement Division at Cedarville University is also putting up a 23-foot tall tree this year to be enjoyed during Campus Christmas.
“We will be honoring the donors who gave during CU Give Hope back in April by writing their names on tags which will be on the ornaments of the tree,” said Rah Jacob, Experience Director at Cedarville University. “This is a small way for us to honor those who gave to a fund that helped close to 300 students return to Cedarville amongst financial struggles due to COVID-19.”
The tree will be a symbol of hope during the Christmas season, giving thanks to the donors who chose to give hope to Cedarville students.
Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 4,550 undergraduate, graduate, and online students in more than 150 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings and high student engagement ranking. For more information about the University, visit www.cedarville.edu.