Campus Christmas: The elves behind the magic

By Bella Agnello

‘Twas the night of Campus Christmas, when all through the ‘ville, students were decorating – with cheer and with thrill.

Christmas music mixed with the sounds of laughter and conversation as the Campus Experience team transformed Cedarville University into a winter wonderland. Between Friday, Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 22 at 2:30 a.m., the team decked the halls with gift boxes, Christmas trees and the likes to usher in the holiday season.

Campus Experience – composed of teams like the Student Government Association (SGA), the Informational “Info” Group and Rinnova teams – is a community of staff and students whose motto is to “create opportunities for others to create moments.” Brian Burns, the director of Campus Experience, gathered the team in the DeVries Theater to encourage them before the long night began.

“This is a major, major, major transformation, and it’s only happening because of the people in this room,” Burns said.

Burns reminded students of their first Campus Christmas experience, encouraging them to cultivate the same magical feeling for this year’s freshmen.

After Burns gave instructions and relayed safety precautions, he invited senior Biblical Studies major and Rinnova barista Molly Miller to pray over the evening. She offered one simple but defining prayer: “God, may tonight honor you.”

From there, students dispersed with their designated teams and set off to decorate the major buildings on campus: the Stevens Student Center (SSC), the Scharnberg Business and Communication Center (SBCC), the Center for Biblical and Theological Studies (BTS), Chick-fil-A and the Dixon Ministry Center (DMC).

In the SSC, Burns let out one hearty cry before commissioning students to begin their duties.

“May the Lord bless you and keep you, and let us have fun,” Burns said.

Students harnessed themselves and mounted four scissor lifts. They strategically adorned the ceiling with snowballs to immerse students in a scene of falling snow.

Emma Bergeron, a junior Management major and member of the Info team, busied herself in the snowball-making department. With this being her first time decorating for Campus Christmas, she found joy in being able to decorate for the holidays for the first time since arriving at Cedarville.

“At home, my siblings all do my Christmas decorating now since I’ve been at college,” Bergeron said.

In Chick-fil-A, the Grinch greets diners with a foul grin as he steals the string lights off a tree. And the railings are trimmed with stockings that display the names of the numerous masters programs Cedarville offers.

Daniel Bundy, a junior Math Education major and Rinnova barista, helped set the Christmas mood in Chick-fil-A. While hard at work to prepare a magical experience for the rest of campus, he reflected on his initial thoughts toward Campus Christmas during his freshman year.

“My freshman year, I was a little bit of an Ebenezer Scrooge. I was a major ‘Don’t Celebrate Christmas Before Thanksgiving’ guy,” Bundy said. “As soon as I walked into the SSC, I hated how magical it was and how much I loved it. Ever since then, I’ve been a ‘Christmas Before Thanksgiving’ guy.”

Students maintained jovial spirits as time ticked away from late evening to early morning. While some energized themselves with pour over coffee, Dr. Pepper or the assurance of a roommate on standby with an emergency energy drink, Hugo Cerrato – junior Economics and International Studies major, as well as the SGA vice president – refreshed himself with one of Rinnova’s Christmas drinks: the Gingersnap.

While fluffing Christmas trees in the BTS, Cerrato recalled his freshman year Campus Christmas experience as being nothing short of “magical.”

“The first building I went to was the SSC,” Cerrato said. “Seeing all the lights – all the snowballs from the ceiling – the first thing I did was take out my phone and send photos to my family.”

Cerrato loved being part of the team that gifted him and his family a Merry Christmas even when living in separate countries – Cerrato living in the United States and his family in Honduras.

“I can feel the Christmas spirit already,” Cerrato said.

Donnie Gardiner, a junior Management major and the SGA president, shared Cerrato’s joy to be part of Campus Experience.

“It is just a great opportunity to be part of this because you get to really do what Campus Experience talks about: ‘create opportunities for others to create moments,’” Gardiner said. “This is something where decorating campus is creating an opportunity for so many different people to have this magical moment.”

Sophomore Psychology major and Rinnova barista Katie Stemple soaked in her first year decorating the campus. Her team collaborated with the Finance and Creative Solutions Group (CSG) teams to prepare the DMC for Christmas. 

“We get to work with teams we don’t normally get to work with, so it’s pretty fun,” Stemple said.

Stemple highlighted a crucial part of Campus Experience’s job: they are cultivating a comforting setting for students longing to be home.

“This is the time of year you want to be home the most,” Stemple said. “Getting a taste of Christmas and being in a homy, cozy atmosphere is just really special as a freshman, and it makes you excited to spend the last two weeks here before Christmas Break.”

One of the biggest joys for the team is waking up and seeing the awe on students’ faces as they enter into the wonderland on their way to brunch.

Elisabeth Coon, a junior Strategic Communication major and member of the SGA team, remembered how mesmerized she was as a freshman by the hanging snowballs, Christmas trees and giant Christmas slide when she walked to the dining hall with her bro/sis for brunch. Thrilled to be one of “Santa’s little helpers” this year, she looked forward to the rest of campus experiencing the magic of Campus Christmas for the first time.

At last, at 2:30 a.m., the Campus Experience team celebrated the end of another successful decorating night – just hours before students woke up and made their way to The Commons for brunch.

On Saturday, students piled into the SSC with their bro/sis and friends, marveling at the wintery magic around them. Friends slid down the Christmas slide and watched the train round the Christmas tree in The Commons – giddily embracing the lively Christmas spirit.

Bella Agnello is a senior Broadcasting, Digital Media and Journalism major with a concentration in Journalism and the On-Campus editor for Cedars. She enjoys antiquing, listening to records and reading classic Russian literature in her spare time.