A “Family Thanksgiving” At Harvard

From HUDS workers to House Masters, the College strove to give students who remained on campus this Thanksgiving break a warm, familial experience.

In Quincy House, white tablecloths, barrels of apples, and even two prepared turkeys lined the dining hall tables—until a HUDS chef carved the turkeys up and served them to students.

Quincy House, the only dining hall open during the Thanksgiving break that lasted from Wednesday to Saturday this year, prepared traditional Thanksgiving dishes and extended Thursday’s meal service from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Students were able to enjoy everything from the classic turkey with gravy to mulled apple cider to four different types of pie while taking in Quincy dining hall’s festive decorations.

“Today we wanted it to feel as home-like as possible,” Kishan Jagmohan, a HUDS general cook in Quincy House, said. “We can’t have everyone sitting around a big table together, but we try our best.”

Jagmohan said that the Thanksgiving menu was special because it features items that are on the regular menu, but usually served separately.

“They’re never on at the same time,” he said. “And we don’t usually have sliced ham as part of our yearly menu.”

Viroopa Volla ’14 said she appreciated the HUDS staff’s efforts.

“I feel like the Thanksgiving they offered here is pretty heartwarming,” Volla said. “They offer everything that you’d usually see at Thanksgiving,”

Volla added that she also thought the food was “pretty good.”

In addition to the campus-wide dinner in the Quincy dining hall, many Houses also organized their own celebrations for House members who remained at Harvard over the holiday. Eliot House hosted a game night that included desserts on Thursday evening. The House Masters in Adams House hosted a traditional New England Thanksgiving dinner in the Franklin D. Roosevelt suite.

Students who remained on campus cited various reasons for choosing to stay.

Vollaa said she did not travel home this year so that she could work on her senior thesis, as all of the data for her work was stored at Lamont Library.

For others, the trip home is not feasible.

Will D. Moyo ’16, a student from Zimbabwe, said that for her and her friends, many of whom are also international students, flying back home for a few days is not worth the price of the trip.

“It doesn’t make sense to go home,” Moyo said.

Moyo said she planned to spend Thanksgiving relaxing with her friends and her host family, who introduced her to the traditions accompanying the holiday last year.

“I knew of the holiday Thanksgiving, but not of how people take it really seriously here, and how important it is to them,” Moyo said.

“The idea of having time to stop and reflect about what you’re grateful for, I think that’s my favorite part.”