December marks both the close of the fall semester on Loyola Marymount University’s (LMU) campus and the start of the holiday season across the globe. This year Lions had the opportunity to reflect on what they have learned this semester and to celebrate holiday cultural traditions from around the globe as a community and further develop their understanding of what it means to Become a Global Citizen and Integrate Mind Body Spirit.
In the center of LMU’s Regents Terrace stands a tall, brightly lit Christmas tree. On the evening of Nov. 30, many members of the LMU community took part in the annual Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony hosted by the Associated Students of Loyola Marymount University, where students and other guests from the neighboring Westchester area watched and waited as the tree came to life with light. While the was the tree lighting attendees a hopeful kick-off to the season, several student groups and organizations on campus also invited the LMU community to join them as they engaged in holiday celebrations from around the world on-campus.
On December 3, Jewish Student Life (JSL) hosted a Hanukkah Party to celebrate the Festival of Lights. This celebration marks the dedication of the new Temple in Jerusalem and to commemorate the miracle of a small amount of oil that lasted eight days. Our rabbis teach that “light is synonymous with goodness, peace, redemption, wisdom, God and the soul” and so the lighting of the Hanukkah menorah is the primary ritual of the holiday. It is traditional to eat foods cooked in oil, such as latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganyiot (jelly donuts). Lions played spin the dreidel, a top like toy that has letters on each side that stand for Nes Gadol Hayah Sham (“A Great Miracle Happened There,” referring to the miracle of oil in the Temple in Jerusalem). Gaby Guerrero, a junior said, “I wish to impart the joy which that evening with Jewish Student Life brought me. In including me in their celebration of Hanukkah, the festival of lights. I learned about Judaism and Jewish culture, laughed so hard I cried and felt wholly included.
The students of JSL and Rabbi Zach were a light for me during these last tough weeks of the semester.”
December 6 marked a moment of students, faculty and staff to gather in the Malone Student Center to take part and learn about Kwanzaa, a celebration of life and reflection to honor African heritage. The Office of Black Student Services hosted the event and featured Baba the Storyteller. Baba told stories, answered questions from students, sang songs, played an instrument called a Kora, talked about the lighting of the Mishumaa Saba (seven candles) and gave the community time to reflect with one another as the year comes to a close. Carolyn Egekezi ’20, said, “I started celebrating and learning about the tradition of Kwanzaa when I came to LMU.
This evening gives everyone the space to be unified, to reflect on the values of our community and to celebrate what black people have given to this country.”
This evening also gave me the opportunity to reflect on how I’ve been challenged this semester and sometimes I may limit myself because I think I can’t do something and this gives me the opportunity to know I can do more and re-center myself coming into next semester.”
December 6 also brought students together in St. Robert’s Auditorium to join Chicano/Chicana Student Services for their annual La Posada Navidena, a traditional Mexican holiday celebration recalling the events leading up the Nativity of Jesus. Members and friends of the LMU Chicano/a community gathered in St. Robert’s Auditorium to enjoy tamales, pan dulce, and warm cups of champurrado as they sang Spanish Christmas carols called villancicos, which ranged from traditional to contemporary. “I think being Latina and a Catholic is a unique and special combination to have,” said senior Brenda Quintana. “I come to this celebration every year
because it reminds me of home and my roots, but it also reminds me that I have community that I love here as well.”
The celebration was complete with traditional community prayers, a few hits of the piñata and numerous rounds of the popular game “Loteria.”
In addition, many in attendance also attended a bi-lingual Advent Mass celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe at LMU’s Sacred Heart Chapel on Dec. 9. The LMU community enjoyed a day of prayer and reflection with a reception that showcased Aztec dancers, mariachi performers and our very own Grupo Folkorico de LMU. It was a wonderful event with familia, cultura y fe.