Christmas festivities seem to come earlier and earlier each year, with string lights wrapped around every neighborhood tree, holiday inflatables displayed in every retailer, and cheery music playing on every radio station.
Brophy is no exception to this phenomena. The 25-foot Christmas tree in the Front Lawn, the beautifully adorned Brophy Chapel—there are various bits of holiday decor set up across campus, not to mention the various Christmas-themed events hosted throughout the course of December.
Yet, in spite of this, there has been what I would call a substantial lack of festivity amongst the student body. There is little to no Christmas atmosphere when walking on campus, and Broncos need to do better in embracing the holiday spirit, especially considering the tremendous amount of work that goes into styling Brophy for the occasion.
Ms. Missy Grams, Director of Facilities and Food Services, attests to the tedious process of decorating campus for the holidays.
“When we make changes to the campus, a lot of people are involved in that decision. For example, the Christmas display that we have up front comes directly from the Brophy Community Foundation. They wanted to do it a few years back and started it themselves. The Christmas decorating that we do in the Chapel is done completely by the Mothers’ Guild. They come in, and we supply them with ladders and extra support, of course, but they do everything themselves. Also, the OFJ was responsible for setting up the Christmas inflatables that were around campus last school year” said Ms. Grams.
In light of all the sacrifices that various groups make in order to decorate campus, it errs on the side of being ungrateful for students to not make more of an effort to be festive during the Christamas season.
A little goes a long way. Organizing a Secret Santa exchange amongst one’s friend group, wearing an ugly Christmas sweater, putting together a toy drive—these are just a few routes students can take when it comes to embracing the holidays, with potentially more options if there were to be coordination with Brophy administration.
Ms. Grams says she has been considering an idea that would help get Broncos more involved in the campus decoration process, specifically.
“It would be fun to have a holiday decorating club,” Ms. Grams said. “I picture it being a student-run organization with a bit of our involvement to make sure that things are done properly. No damaging buildings, that sort of thing. It would have to be approved, probably starting with Mr. Burr, then Mr. Ryan would be the next one to sign off on it, but I bet you they would love that idea.”
“I love the possibility that we could do something more. I could envision us having a tree in the Octagon or something festive in the Grand Plaza—something there so that you guys walking around throughout the day have something pretty within campus grounds to look at.” Ms. Grams said.
This would be a substantial first step in the movement to spread Christmas cheer amongst Broncos, and it could pave the way for even greater student involvement in holiday-oriented activities. It’s up to the student body to take action, however, and until then, campus will remain as cheerful as Broncos make it out to be.