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- Decembers at Georgetown bustle with end-of-year activity. But somewhere in the mix, the university community sets aside time to celebrate the holiday season with service and reflection. Serving others is one way the university community celebrates the holidays. Offices and departments adopt pet projects that range from canned food and clothing drives to collecting gifts and supplies for shelters in Washington. Eileen Fenrich, director of the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program (FSAP) , organizes the “Sponsor a Family” program every year, which allows Georgetown colleagues to anonymously adopt a family in need and provide holiday gifts for its members. She recounted one sponsor’s words as he picked out gifts for a 9-year-old boy. “He said he hasn’t felt so wonderful about Christmas in a long time until he was out buying gifts for a Georgetown family,” Fenrich said. “That’s the wonderful thing about this program -- it’s all anonymous, but it really fosters the spirit of giving that we think is so important here at Georgetown.” This year, 22 departments and individuals sponsored 20 Georgetown families. Offices and departments often also adopt pet projects that range from canned food and clothing drives for families to collecting gifts and supplies for shelters in Washington. Click below to view scenes from the holidays at Georgetown (Click on the right side of the image to advance the gallery.) Throughout November and December, bins fill up with donated books for children of all ages as part of the annual Angel Tree book drive. The university collected about 3,500 new books that were sent off to homeless shelters, family care centers, organizations that assist disadvantaged youth as well as the developmentally disabled. A significant portion of the books were donated by customers of the Borders book store at Reagan National Airport, where customers were offered the opportunity to purchase a book to donate for the Angel Tree drive. "The process we used to collect the books is actually pretty simple. We had a stack of books at the register and signs throughout the store," says Gary Beal, a manager for the Borders store. "It works out pretty well, especially this time of year when everybody is in the giving mood." Slowing the Pace for Reflection It helps that Christians mark the Advent season during the early weeks of December, said the Rev. Kevin O’Brien, S.J., executive director of Campus Ministry. In Christian religious traditions, Advent anticipates celebrating the birth of Jesus. “It’s a time of spiritual preparation when we slow down and think about what it means to have Christ in our lives,” O’Brien said. “We tend to spend more time in prayer. Time spent reflecting and praying is a good thing because we know everyone gets very busy around the holidays, and this helps slow us down.” This year, Georgetown held its first combined Advent Mass for all Christian denominations at the university. On Dec. 13, students, faculty and staff gathered in Dahlgren Quadrangle for a procession into Gaston Hall. Following the service, Mass participants returned to the quad for caroling and cocoa. The Rev. Thomas King, S.J., a member of the Georgetown Jesuit community who passed away this summer, inspired the new Mass celebration. “He had a tradition of holding a Christmas Mass each year, so we wanted to build onto that tradition and honor his work,” O’Brien said. With Hanukkah in mid-December this year, Georgetown’s Jewish community also had reason to celebrate. The Jewish Students Association hosted a menorah lighting each of the eight Hanukkah nights, and the Georgetown community held a special Hanukkah Shabbat service on Dec. 11. Andrew Levine (C’11), co-president of the Jewish Students Association, said there’s much celebration and singing during Hannukah, but it is a complicated holiday. Set against the backdrop of a political and military struggle in the Middle East, Hanukkah marks the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem after a military victory by the Maccabees over an oppressive Syrian regime in 2 B.C. “For me, the holiday has always been about light and providing some at the darkest time of the year, as a reminder of the persistence and faith of the Jewish people,” Levine said. “It’s about family and tradition to me, so it’s nice that I’ll see my family for the end, and I have the Jewish community here to observe the traditions until then.” Debbie Reichmann, Jewish program coordinator at Campus Ministry, said her office strives to create a community celebration around the holiday. “Like a lot of Jewish holidays, there are many food traditions that go along with Hanukkah,” Reichmann said. “There were jelly doughnuts, chocolate gelt and latkes at the Hanukkah party. We also had study nights where I made matzo ball soup, which was nice for the students -- it’s a little bit of comfort during the stress of exams.” Georgetown’s Christmas and Hanukkah celebrations come from the university’s commitment to interreligious understanding, O’Brien said. “Central to that mission is the vibrant celebration of different religious holy days at this time of year,” he said. “By sharing these holy traditions, each person’s own faith commitment deepens.”

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