Turkey. Mac and cheese. Stuffing. Mashed potatoes. Green beans. What do all of these things have in common?… Thanksgiving!
[KAREN SPRINGEN] I love Thanksgiving because it’s really for everybody. It is just sort of sharing your home, sharing food, which feels so homey and cozy.
Thanksgiving is a time to reconnect with family, ditch the dining halls for a home cooked meal, see old friends you might’ve been trying to avoid, and have those awkward conversations at the table.
But for some students, Thanksgiving might look a bit different than normal this year. Many will be staying in Evanston to celebrate the holiday. Even though they may be apart from their families, they can still celebrate with students and faculty.
[SPRINGEN] I still remember when I was in college, people didn’t tend to fly home. We didn’t have a big break, and I remember I was nervous. I was like ‘oh, what are we going to do on Thanksgiving?’ It’s just something about the people who had me over to their homes when I was in college, whether it was my teachers, that was the biggest deal, or even fellow students who live nearby and their parents, it just meant a lot to me. So I wanted to do that. I vowed if I ever had that opportunity, I would do it too.
That’s Karen Springen, a Medill Assistant Professor. She’s hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for her students for several years. It’s simple: anybody who is on campus over the holiday who’s looking for a meal is invited.
[SPRINGEN] We do it early afternoon. People come by the Metra train that gets in about 1:20, we actually eat around 2:00-ish or so. So people can two-time me, they can come to this Thanksgiving and then go to a night one if they want. It’s great fun. I love it.
Her menu has all the usual favorites: turkey, ham, veggies, and so on. But what about dessert?
[SPRINGEN] Well, I have to say, of course, I make pies. Of course, we have the basic like the pumpkin pie, the apple pie, the pecan pie. But my signature thing is probably my cookies just in general because I make them for my classes. So the signature cookies will be there too.
Springen, an avid baker, loves to spoil her guests with a diverse dessert menu for the holiday. But it’s not just the menu that makes the tradition special for her. It’s the people and spirit of the holiday.
[SPRINGEN] Well, one thing about it is when it’s at your own home, you can make the Thanksgiving. So of course, they’re all things that I love. It’s foods that I love, it’s people that I love—I love all my students—it’s a setting that I love, with a fireplace. I live in a 100-year old house, so it’s got that cozy, wonderful, old feel to it. And it’s just how I like Thanksgiving.
For many students, like Bienen freshman Calvin Simmers, this year will be the first away from home.
[CALVIN SIMMERS] Normally it’s like we go to my grandparents’ house and, you know, just hang out with family and play games and eat.
However this year, Calvin has changed up his plans…
[SIMMERS] I’m staying on campus. I was either gonna like do something with some friends that are staying on campus, that’s most likely what’s gonna happen. But I also had a couple of friends who lived in Chicago who invited me to their, their house to have Thanksgiving with their family and such. I haven’t necessarily decided what to do yet.
Staying on campus is a common option for many students. Whether it’s more cost efficient to stay, more convenient given the short break, or simply too far from home, there are many valid reasons why students will spend the holiday in Evanston.
[LAL KAHVECIOGLU] Because I’m from Turkey, which is really far away and Thanksgiving is just like a little short break there won’t be enough days for me to go back to Turkey. I’m gonna go to New York and my brother’s gonna come, my dad’s gonna come and we’re gonna see the huge Thanksgiving parade and just have a little trip together.
That’s Lal Kahvecioglu, a current School of Communications student and freshman from Istanbul, Turkey. This year will be her first Thanksgiving away from home and in the United States. Staying on campus this year was the most convenient solution for her, given the 11 hour flight back home.
[LAL KAHVECIOGLU] I’m looking forward to seeing my dad and my brother the most and I’m looking forward to the traditions that they have in the US that I don’t, I didn’t, haven’t experienced before.
But not everyone is from across the world. Medill sophomore Cole Reynolds is from California, and Thanksgiving is his favorite holiday. Even though he was away for the first time last year, the celebrations didn’t stop.
[COLE REYNOLDS] It’s kind of a bit of a trek back home just to come back and do it again, like, a week later. And so I was like, ‘why don’t we just host our own?’ I couldn’t go without the food. I know I wouldn’t be able to see my family, but the community was still there. I talked to my partner, Roman Modhera, and he was staying and kind of feeling the same way. And we’re just like, ‘let’s do it, let’s make it happen.’
Preparations for the great south campus Thanksgiving began weeks ahead of time.
[REYNOLDS] We had been collecting money from our friends who are gonna participate, because they’re part of the thrust behind us. But the other part was, like, there are some international students who can’t go home for Thanksgiving in our dorm. We raised some of the money from people and then opened it up to kind of a word-of-mouth type of thing. And as soon as that happened, we were like, ‘oh my God,’ we don’t know how many people are going to come. How much money do we have? Can we spend right up to that limit?
Reynolds and his friends took over several dorm kitchens in the days before to cook everything from mac and cheese to stuffing, and, of course, the turkey.
[REYNOLDS] It was at like 110 and it was not even close to being edible. So I went non-verbal, I just did not talk to anybody. I was trying to fix this turkey before anybody came. At one point, I was like, ‘we can’t overcook the breast, right?’ So I literally put it on the stovetop and tried to cook it from the bottom up.
Even though the cooking process might’ve been more difficult than planned, Reynolds said the turnout was worth it.
[REYNOLDS] I think people were kind of stunned that it wasn’t just a rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods, you know? It was really cool just in the day to see people that I’d never seen before just come up and start chatting about whatever, you know? There was a momentary, instantaneous, and fleeting temporary community that formed around the table. They really recognized how beautiful the moment was.
You might be asking yourself: what about this year?
[REYNOLDS] Actually this year I had the opportunity to go home and I’m not actually gonna go home, I’m gonna do it all again. You know, all the stress, all the, all the cooking again. But it’s because I think it was, it was a powerful thing just to see people enjoy and it’s my family’s recipes, you know, it’s, and just kind of people appreciating the other things that I’d, I’d taken for granted for, for my whole life.
If you’ll be on campus for Thanksgiving this year, maybe the first time away from your family, know that there’s other students in your shoes. And in Karen Springen’s words…
[SPRINGEN] There’s something about Thanksgiving that’s such a lovely open welcoming holiday and there’s something about sharing it with other people that you can’t beat.
From the Thanksgiving table, Gabriella Egozi, WNUR News.
