Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.,125 students braved the below freezing temperatures to gather outside of St. John’s Church for the annual Christmas at Creighton event.
The even began with an opening prayer lead by Meghan Bullard, vice president of service, faith and justice for the Inter Residence Hall Government. Following the prayer, Leanna Schmidt, IRHG President, gave some remarks and stated that Christmas at Creighton is one of her favorite events and she is glad that IRHG is able to give a sense of holiday fun to students during a stressful time in the semester.
Dr. John Cernech, vice president for Student Life then spoke about the creation of Christmas at Creighton.
“There are two things that Creighton students have totally created for campus. One was the idea for the Skutt Student Center and the other was Christmas at Creighton,” he said.
Cernech went on to explain that Christmas at Creighton was started by a Welcome Week leader who was from Kansas City and want to bring the tradition of the lighting of the Plaza District in Kansas City to Creighton.
Missing from the celebration were two iconic Creighton figures. The Rev. Larry Gillick, who normally gives the reflection and final blessing at Christmas at Creighton was unable to attend so the Rev. Paddy Gilger, associate pastor of St. John’s, lead the students in a reflection at the ceremony during which he called students to remember how it feels to light their own Christmas tree at their house. He reminded students that the moment is not beautiful, but lovely and that it is a moment full of grace.
Missing also was the Rev. Timothy Lannon, president of Creighton, who normally flips the switch that lights the mall. Dr. Edward O’Connor, provost of Creighton, filled in to turn on the lights and also announced to students that Fr. Lannon had been released from the hospital earlier that afternoon ending a stay that started when Fr. Lannon was not feeling well during Thanksgiving Day mass.
After the lights were turned on, students where invited into the Skutt Student Center ballroom for a Christmas style feast. The theme for the indoor portion of Christmas at Creighton was the movie “Elf” which was evident through a variety of New York City decorations, life reindeer attached to a sleigh for photos, and members of the IRHG team dressed in elf costumes. The ballroom was crowded and stayed so until the event ended at 7:30 p.m. as the Christmas feast was the only dinning on campus.
Christmas at Creighton is an annual tradition is looked forward to by many students. Anna Shymanski, a College of Arts and Sciences Senior, says that it is one of her favorite events of the school year because it embodies not only the holiday season but also the love of the Creighton community.
“I love Christmas at Creighton because there’s just so much love in the room for our school and each other, really…I love the Christmas lights more than anything,” she said. “There’s nothing better than walking down the mall all stressed about finals and then looking around at them. [They are a] instant mood lifter!”
Christmas at Creighton