Lehigh accommodates students staying on campus for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks for family, friends and — of course — food, but for some students, it is difficult to return home during the short five-day break to celebrate the holiday.

Many international students and those who live several hours away may choose to stay on campus or go home with a friend to celebrate the holiday.

According to Associate Director of Residential Services Kathryn Kresge, about 200 students filled out a survey that was sent out to the entire student body, asking to remain on campus.

“For Thanksgiving break, we allow anyone who would like to stay over break to stay,” Kresge said.

When the surveys were completed and sent in, Residential Services split up those who requested to stay on campus into their respective housing to decide which residence halls could be kept open and which had to be closed for the break.

“For safety reasons, university police wants to make sure that there is at least a minimum number of students in each building, depending on the size of it,” Kresge said.

The bigger dormitories that house a larger number of students staying on campus remain open, while the smaller residence halls, such as the Centennials, close. In addition, all of the sorority and fraternity houses close.

According to Kresge, the students who reside in the buildings that are closing must find temporary housing off campus or room with someone else staying in one of the open residence halls.

Dining will also be a challenge for those staying on campus, as several dining halls and cafes are closed from Wednesday, Nov. 26, until Sunday, Nov. 30. The places that are open to eat for dinner are Rathbone, Pandini’s and Hawks Nest.

Students can also take advantage of the many restaurants off campus, or use the kitchens provided for them in their buildings.

“We do everything that we can for the students who are staying on campus, but it is really hard to keep every building open due to safety reasons,” Kresge said.

Mudassir Kadri, ’18, an international student from Tanzania, is excited to remain on campus during break and have some time to himself. He is not yet ready to return home and has not even made plans to return over winter break.

“I think that a few people are staying, but many have friends in the area and can go home with them for the holiday,” Kadri said.

Unsure of the number of students remaining behind, he is hopeful that he will not be the only one left in his dormitory, Dravo.

Many international students have never taken part in the holiday before, giving them another reason to not return home to celebrate with their families. Vita Vovk, ’18, an international student from Slovenia, never planned on returning home for Thanksgiving break.

“I never really considered going home for Thanksgiving because it was not a holiday I celebrated at home, so I never thought of returning to Slovenia for it,” she said. “I planned my semester schedule so that I was only going back during winter break.”

Luckily for Vovk, she can go home with a friend that she met at Lehigh and experience her first Thanksgiving. She is excited to learn more about the holiday, apart from what she has seen about it through movies and television shows and is also happy that she does not need to stay on campus while everyone else is gone.

“I would be miserable if I stayed here,” Vovk said. “I stayed over pacing break because I am a part of the crew team, and because I couldn’t go home anyway. The campus was like a ghost town.”

For those leaving campus for Thanksgiving, Residential Services stresses the importance of safety during the break to ensure that no valuables are stolen from the empty rooms.

“We want to make sure that students are all locking their doors and windows during their time off campus to prevent break-ins,” Kresge said.

For the students that are living in off-campus housing, the Lehigh police department recommends registering their off campus address for police patrol during Thanksgiving and winter break.