A Very Terp Thanksgiving

Thoughts of homemade turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie were swirling around students' heads in the days leading up to Thanksgiving break. So the university offered a chance for students to enjoy an authentic holiday meal on campus.

On Wednesday night, Nov. 16, the University of Maryland dining services hosted its annual Thanksgiving Dinner at both the North and South Campus Dining Halls. Dinner options included turkey, ham, acorn squash, mashed potatoes, vegetables, corn chowder and, of course, dessert choices of pumpkin and pecan pie.

According to Bart Hipple, assistant director of communications for dining services, over the course of the night, the two dining halls served 2,388 turkey meals, 487 ham meals and 138 vegetarian squash meals. Dinner service started at 5 p.m. and ended at 7 p.m., at which time regular late-night options were available.

"It was a good meal. The turkey was a little dry, but the sides were good and the dessert was great. The best thing about it was the amount of food they had," said junior journalism major Lizzy McLellan.

The university has organized a Thanksgiving dinner since before Hipple started working here 21 years ago. The university tries to provide students with a holiday-themed meal to get into the Thanksgiving spirit before they go home for break, he said.

"We always have this meal the week before break so that there are enough students here to eat it. It's usually the Wednesday the week before Thanksgiving, since dining services closes next Wednesday," said Hipple.

The meal cost $7.65 for students with meal plans and $9.65 for those paying in cash. All other food options were closed for the night, except the sandwich and Italian food lines, which remained open as additional options.

"I didn't eat the Thanksgiving meal. I just needed to grab something quick and cheap, and I'm glad they had other options available. It looked good though," said sophomore business major Michael Bright.

In addition to the Thanksgiving meal, dining services also sponsors a holiday-themed dinner before winter break. This year, the dinner will be served Dec. 7. Options include prime rib, chicken, potatoes, rice, and different types of cake.

"I like when they have special food menus. It breaks up the monotony of having the same choices every night," McLellan said.

Graduate students also enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal of their own this year. For the eighth year in a row, the International Graduate Student Association hosted a Thanksgiving dinner in the Grand Ballroom in the Stamp Student Union on Nov. 16.

The meal is mainly intended for graduate students who can't make it home for break, however, the event was free for all graduate students. According to the graduate school, the event was well attended this year. Students were encouraged to bring their families with them to enjoy the festive meal.

"Mostly this is geared toward our international grad students who will not be travelling home to visit family, since it's a short break—especially if home is India or China, or similarly distant countries…and since Thanksgiving is an American holiday not celebrated elsewhere," said Anna Bedford, president of the Graduate Student Government. Bedford said the event was created to provide a sense of holiday spirit for all graduate students to celebrate together.

"Even though Thanksgiving is an American holiday, it can still be a lonely time for international grads if their friends and colleagues are going to see their families and they are alone in a foreign country," Bedford said. "The media is also projecting images of family events and holiday dinners at this time, and so it's great that there is a dinner here on campus for our international grad student community," she said adding that international students make up about a quarter of the graduate student population that is currently estimated around 11,000 students.

"I thought it was a nice transition, serving food that is better than usual that gets us into the holiday spirit," junior neurobiology and physiology major Josh Leibowitz said.