Butler students have the option to stay on campus during Thanksgiving break. Photo courtesy of Grace Hensley.
MOLLY DURM l STAFF REPORTER l mdurm@butler.edu
As Thanksgiving break approaches, many students will take this opportunity to travel home to celebrate Thanksgiving with their families, but not all students choose to leave campus for this holiday break.
Some students live too far away from home to travel home for just a week, some must stay on campus for work or athletic team requirements and some do not celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday leading about 120-150 students to stay on campus.
Senior health sciences major Emily Jones has stayed on campus during many breaks to fulfill her responsibilities as a student-athlete.
“I’m a member of the cheer team, and we cheer basketball games sometimes over Thanksgiving, and then we’ll also have practices over the break,” Jones said. “We also stay over several other breaks for games and practices.”
Junior healthcare and business major Danielle Pierce has also stayed on campus over break to meet cheerleading team requirements. She explained what her experience was like living on campus while classes were not in session.
“It was definitely super quiet,” Pierce said. “I know for the most part, it was just like the cheer team and men’s and women’s basketball and maybe a few other sports. It was mainly just athletes and everything else was just super quiet and super dead. Unless we had a basketball game then locals would come, but besides that, it was very quiet.”
While a small number of students will remain on campus, Director of Residence Life Shannon Mulqueen outlined what resources will be available to students who are staying over the holiday break.
“All campus residence halls and apartments are open [during the break] on a limited basis,” Mulqueen said in an email to The Butler Collegian. “The front desks will be closed and there will be a pause on mail delivery. Several retail campus dining locations, like A-Town Market and Starbucks, will be open for limited hours. Several campus buildings, like the [Health and Recreation Center] and the Food Pantry, are open on a limited basis or with adjusted hours.”
During the break, students will not be able to use their meal plan meals or flex dollars, but food at the open dining locations will be available for purchase.
Residence halls will stay open for students, but the lack of communication and resource accessibility led to challenges for some students when staying on campus during a break.
“If there was a way to connect the people staying on campus with whoever is on duty during breaks that would be really helpful,” Jones said. “Just like a sense of comfort because I really did feel so alone. If anything bad happened, I felt like nobody was there to help me. So that would be a great thing for Butler to do, just connecting the students with an RA staying over the break.”
Pierce emphasized the difference between spending the holiday on campus versus at home, explaining how she managed to find a sense of community in a seemingly empty campus.
“It definitely was different [than being home for the holiday] because obviously, you aren’t getting home-cooked meals or relaxing at home, or seeing like your home friends and your family,” Pierce said. “But honestly, you build a family here. Especially with your teammates and the people [who] have also stayed on campus. You have that sense of home away from home.”
The schedules for the adjusted hours of campus buildings and food services during the break can be found on the Butler website. Campus dining will reopen for regular service starting Sunday, Dec. 1 for dinner.
