The home stretch of the academic semester is right around the corner which means the winter holidays are rapidly approaching and students are preparing to celebrate the holidays of their choice.
Keene State College students celebrate other winter holidays besides Christmas, which are acknowledged around campus.
Sophomore Samantha Goldblatt, president of Keene State’s Jewish Student Union, shared information about the upcoming club meetings and how students at Keene State will get a chance to attend an event and learn more about Hanukkah if they do not already celebrate.
Goldblatt said, “For this upcoming Monday (12/9), our club has booked out the Madison Street Lounge and we have a table where we have Hanukkah foods and the dining commons is catering. It will be a chance for our members to catch a break from studying because it is on reading day and it is an event for students to come and learn about Hanukkah.”
“The campus does a good job and the Cultural Center is amazing at acknowledging these holidays and I think our campus does a better job than many other campuses,” continued Goldblatt.
The Jewish Student Union meets biweekly on Wednesdays at 6:30; the meeting location changes weekly. To stay informed about the meeting location there are updates posted on Instagram at @jewishstudentunionksc.
On campus, some students celebrate multiple winter holidays, as opposed to just one, as both are important to them.
“I celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah. We light the menorah and we light the candles and we also decorate the Christmas tree. We sing the Hanukkah song as a family when we light the menorah. We also open presents on Christmas morning and one on each of the days of Hanukkah,” said senior Emma Conkey.
“I think Keene State has a diverse student body and they do their best to accommodate students of various religions,” continued Conkey.
There are also students on campus who venture off from their knowledge of the holidays they choose to celebrate and learn about other religions and what is valued in those religions as well.
Junior Anna White said, “I celebrate Christmas but I took history of Jewish music at Keene State and I think it shows that Keene State does a great job at offering diverse classes giving students the opportunity to learn more about other religions and become more worldly.”
With the semester coming to a close, students can look forward to not only a break from the school work and tests, but a chance to be with family and celebrate the holidays that are important to them.
Ali Barretta can be contacted at
