How can I celebrate the holidays and give back, SU- style?

(Updated Nov. 30, 2:15 p.m.)

Here are some of the ways you can celebrate the holidays at SU.

Kick off the Holiday Season

Celebrate the beginning of the holiday season, SU-style, with the following activities this Thursday evening:

• Christmas Tree Lighting | Thursday, November 29, 6-8 p.m., Student Center, Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons Plaza
  Join with others in the Seattle University community to celebrate the spirit of the holiday season. Take pictures with Santa, eat delicious cookies, create wonderful winterland crafts, play games, sing carols and countdown to the lighting of the tree. A reception with cookies, hot cocoa, crafts and games will be held in the Student Center at 6 p.m. Caroling and the tree lighting will take place in the Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons Plaza at 7 p.m. Event information can also be found here. Sponsored by the Center for Student Involvement. For more information, contact Bianca Galam at galamb@seattleu.edu. 
• Holiday Donation Drive | Thursday, Nov. 29, 6-8 p.m.
  The Center for Community Engagement will be accepting donations at the Christmas Tree Lighting to stock up our community food/goods pantries at Washington Middle School, Bailey Gatzert Elementary and the Gender Justice Center on campus. For more information, contact Brianna Cardenas at carden12@seattleu.edu. You are also invited to join the Center for Community Engagement this holiday season by supporting local youth, adults and families in the Spirit of Giving. Select a gift from the online registry. For more information, contact Erin Burrows at burrower@seattleu.edu.
  Annual Hanu-Chaos Party | Thursday, Nov. 29, immediately following the Christmas Tree Lighting (7:30-8 p.m.), Campus Ministry, STCN 120
  Come celebrate Hanukkah with the Jewish Student Union and Campus Ministry! There will be latkes, dreidel games, gelt, prizes and more! Event details can also be found here. For more information, contact Victoria Carr-Ware at carrv@seattleu.edu.

Advent Mass and Reception
Saturday, December 1, 2018
Mass 4 p.m.
Reception 5 p.m. 

Celebrate the season with Seattle U and the Alumni Association. Staff, faculty, family and friends are invited to attend a favorite holiday tradition. Following mass celebrated by President Stephen Sundborg, S.J., there will be a candlelight procession from the chapel to the Student Center featuring holiday carols by the Chapel Choir. The reception includes appetizers, wine, beer and tons of family fun to celebrate the season.

This event is filling up fast, don't wait to reserve your spot! RSVP here. Questions? Contact Stephanie Jamieson at jamiesos@seattleu.edu. 

Share Your Favorite Holiday Recipe

The Alumni Association is celebrating everyone’s favorite holiday treats with an SU Voice article highlighting our community’s best holiday recipes. Do you have an appetizer, dessert or other holiday dish that you make each year? Share your favorite recipe and a few brief sentences about what you love about it for a chance to be featured in our holiday treats article. Bonus points if you also submit a picture of your creation. Send your recipes to Caitlin Joyce at joycec@seattleu.edu by Dec. 3.

An Advent Evening of Prayer: The Waiting Room
Wednesday, Dec. 5, 7 p.m.
Seattle First Baptist, Seattle

Allow yourself to let go of the busyness and "shoulds" of the holiday season! This Advent, we join Zechariah, Mary, Elizabeth and others in "The Waiting Room," remembering that we are not alone as we wait for what is yet to be. Come to this contemplative ecumenical evening to pray with beautiful music, silence, vivid imagery and rich reflections from presenters Carla Orlando (SEEL Puget Sound) and Rev. Tim Phillips (Seattle First Baptist Church).

The Seattle University Choirs | “GLOW: A Christmas Celebration”
Friday, Dec. 7, and Saturday, Dec. 8, 8 p.m.
St. Joseph Church (18th E. and E. Aloha, Seattle)

The first major concert under newly appointed Director of Choral and Vocal Music Leann Conley-Holcom, this year's program features sacred and seasonal music by John Rutter, Stephen Paulus, Eric Whitacre, Vera Kistler, Pietro Yon, Gerald Cohen and other noted choral composers. The concerts will be presented at historic St. Joseph Church on Capitol Hill. Tickets are $7 (students), $20 (general admission) and $35 (reserved seating), and are available from Brown Paper Tickets and at the door. Like the Seattle University Choirs on Facebook and follow them on Instagram @seattleuchoirs. Sponsored by the Department of Performing Arts and Arts Leadership. For more information, contact arts@seattleu.edu.

Faculty and Staff Christmas Open House Breakfast | Friday, Dec. 14, 8-10 a.m., LeRoux Conference Center (STCN 160) – Join with colleagues in enjoying good food and spreading holiday cheer. And don’t forget to cut out at noon on Friday, Dec. 21—that’s when the university closes for Christmas Break!