Students unable to return home were given Thanksgiving feast

For the first time ever, Boston University President Robert Brown made it possible for all students who remained on campus for Thanksgiving break to enjoy a traditional American holiday dinner.

International students and students from the United States who were unable to return home for the holiday were able to eat together alongside BU officials at BU’s Center for Student Services, said College of Arts and Sciences and School of Management sophomore Melissa Aydogan.

“It was inconvenient to go home, so I stayed in Boston with my two really good friends and we did vacation housing,” she said. “It was convenient to go to the dining hall for the Thanksgiving dinner. It was really impressive, surprising and very nice.”

Aydogan, who hails from Cincinnati, said while she did not necessarily want to stay on campus during break, it was necessary given the time it takes to travel back home.

“It’s so close to winter break, so it’s not worth it,” she said. “The amount of time to go home is so little, so the travel time isn’t worth it. It would have been more stressful to go home than it was to stay here.”

She said she was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food available to students Thursday evening.

“I went in with zero expectations at all,” Aydogan said. “I thought it would be similar to the dining hall Thanksgiving that they give out the week prior to break. It was actually a lot better quality than that and I was very happy. . . there was a lot of food and really good desserts. There was great company and conversation. It was really nice.”

Items available included turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing and vegetarian options such as pastas and vegetable sides, all of which outshone typical dining hall fare, Aydogan said.

Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore, who was present at the dinner alongside Brown, said by hosting the dinner, BU officials hoped to share New England’s Thanksgiving culture with undergraduates.

“This [New England] is sort of that place where some of that tradition started and it’s one of those things that you want to make sure you’re able to partake and participate in even if you’re not at home,” he said.

Elmore said Brown hoped the dinner would help BU serve as a second home for students during the holiday season.

“It’s whatever we can do to provide a little bit more of that camaraderie, that family feel that people tend to pull from Thanksgiving,” Elmore said.

Elmore declined to comment on how the dinner was funded.

He said students only needed to register using Eventbrite, an online ticketing service often used around campus for various gatherings, to enjoy the meal.

Enze Yan, a CAS sophomore from Beijing who was unable to go to a friend’s home this year for Thanksgiving, said he was glad he was able to partake in Thursday’s festivities.

“It was great — the Thanksgiving turned out to be a ‘Friendsgiving,’ which is perfect,” Yan said in an email. “That’s the spirit I want in college. It’s a great opportunity for everyone to sit down all together and join in the holiday spirit. It’s wvery sweet for BU to do it.”

Due to the high cost of the plane tickets home to China, Yan said he opted out of traveling home for the short break, along with a few of his friends.

“This year I decided to stay here to spend time with my friends, which turned out to be a great choice,” he said. “The dinner was perfect … The dessert was amazing.”

Aydogan said she would attend Thanksgiving dinner at BU again next year and plans on doing so if possible.

“It definitely brought everyone together,” Aydogan said. “Even though it [BU] is such a big school, it gave it a more community feel. It was nice to have everyone together even though it was away from home … I plan to stay here next year … If they do offer it [again], I’ll be there.”

Rachel Riley contributed to the reporting of this article.