Marshall Pickering of Leesburg Prepares for Annual Campus Christmas

2017 Dec 1

Marshall Pickering, a senior international studies major, is preparing for the annual Campus Christmas at Cedarville University. While finals week is often a stressful time for students, the weekend right beforehand offers a much-needed break from studying with this favorite tradition. Pickering sees the tradition as a way to remind students of the meaning of Christmas.

"What we really tried to emphasize this year is the reason for the season: the birth of our Savior," said Pickering, a SCAB events executive. "We decorate and go all out for Campus Christmas, not because it benefits us in any sort of way, but because it shows off the God that we serve and why that's so important in our daily life."

Campus Christmas will include a number of classic traditions such as decorating cookies, watching Christmas movies and enjoying a late-night breakfast combined with karaoke. This year there will also be a time of reading Christmas stories with faculty and staff.

The SCAB events team works months in advance to make Campus Christmas happen. Planning for the event begins in September and each year, just before Thanksgiving break, they work with other students from the larger Campus Experience organization to transform the SSC into a Christmas wonderland overnight.

This year the decorations include more than 30 Christmas trees, 8-foot candy canes and hundreds of pingpong ball "snowflakes" hanging from the ceiling in addition to a large slide that has become a student favorite over the years. There is also Christmas music playing and Bible verses that tell the story of the birth of Jesus scrolling on a digital sign.

Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution

with an enrollment of 3,963 undergraduate, graduate, and online students in more than 150 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community,

rigorous academic programs, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health

science offerings, and leading student satisfaction ratings. For more information about the University,

visit www.cedarville.edu.