It’s officially the holiday season, and many events on campus are recognizing these religious holidays. Each of these groups has their own method of celebration.
Diwali:
Diwali is considered one of the major holidays of the Hindu religion. This year, DePauw students found a way to bring their celebration to campus. On Nov. 15, the Dharma club hosted a Diwali celebration. President of the Dharma club and sophomore Tarinni Kakar said, “It usually represents the start of a new financial year for all the Hindu students; it’s our new year.”
The celebration captured the festival’s representation of the defeat of good over evil.
“We started a small prayer for about 25 to 30 minutes, and we prayed for health, wealth, and happiness,” Kakar said. They prayed to the gods Ganesh, the god of wellness, and Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. Afterward, they ate food and danced.
This celebration is one of the first events of the newly founded Dharma club. The Dharma club is a student association for Hindu students that spreads awareness about their festivals and religion, according to Kakar. One of the main reasons the club was founded was to distinguish the difference between Hindus and Muslims.
Ultimately, this year’s festival was a reminder of home for students. Kakar reflected on what Diwali means to her, “When I’m back home [for Diwali] it means, meeting with my extended family and then eating a lot of sweets and having good food.”
Hanukkah:
This Sunday, Dec. 2, Jewish student organization, Hillel, will host a Hanukkah celebration at President McCoy’s house. Hillel students plan to start baking as early as 2:30 p.m. and will eat by 5:30 p.m.
“[President McCoy] has been very generous and he’s opened up his house to the Jewish community for several events this year and with that being the last one of this semester,” President of DePauw Hillel and junior Jay Klein said.
Klein said Hillel has been trying to get the whole campus involved in their activities throughout the semester.
“We don’t want to make Judaism on campus a seclusionary thing. We want to open it up to everybody and allow anybody who’s interested in becoming educated about the religion, give them opportunities to participate with us in these events ” Klein said.
In light of recent events, Hillel advisor Adam Cohen said this has been a difficult year for the Jewish faith and these events help bring awareness to the community. “We’ll have kind of a more closed service so we have a chance as a community to come together. It’s certainly been a rough fall for the Jewish faith,” Cohen said.
Christmas:
During the last few weeks of the semester, it can be difficult to celebrate Christian holidays before the semester ends.
“We try to do holidays that happen while students are physically on campus,” said Rev. Katherine Smanik, chaplain and assistant dean for Civic Engagement. On Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. there will be a Christmas tree lighting at the Ubben Quad. However, this event doesn’t just celebrate the festivities surrounding Christmas.
“We decided to hold a tree lighting and to really make that a sacred time where it’s not just a festive ‘Let’s sing Christmas carols and drink hot chocolate,’” Smanik said. According to Smanik, the tree lighting is an authentic ceremony that consists of Gospel readings and prayers.
Ultimately, the tree lighting serves as a reminder of Christmas before students head home for winter break. Smanik said, “Christian students who are here during Advent and are away from their home community have a sense of the sacredness of the time of the year beyond just the Christmas music and decorations."
