By Wednesday, more than a day before pumpkin pie and ice cream, most students had already deserted Boston University’s campus.
While students living in apartment-style housing, the Holiday Inn or the Hotel Commonwealth could eat their turkey unaffected by the fall recess, dormitory residents had to leave between noon Wednesday and 10 a.m. Sunday.
All dining facilities, including the George Sherman Union, closed for the break, and Campus Convenience stores remained open on a limited schedule.
But whether by choice or due to a lack of feasible alternatives, about 200 students spent their Thanksgiving in a Brookline hotel aptly named the Holiday Inn.
As for Thanksgiving dinner, students who paid $80 to stay there received a full meal compliments of BU a tradition that began five years ago after students complained about the lack of a feast, Housing Director Marc Robillard said.
‘At the time they were staying at the Howard Johnson in Cambridge, and a student mentioned how there was really no place to eat around there,’ he said.
Kris Seto, a College of Communication freshman, said he decided to stay in Brookline rather than make the trip back home to Seattle because the break was so short.
His only objection to chillin’ at the Holiday Inn, as Snoop Dogg would say, was that the turkey meal was offered from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
‘See, that’s not dinner. It’s lunch,’ he said.
COM junior Alexis Eskenazi, who transferred to BU this year, said she stayed at the Holiday Inn because the trip back to California was too far.
‘The only real problem was internet access,’ she said. ‘I mean, truthfully, the food wasn’t spectacular, but I really liked how they made an effort to give us a Thanksgiving dinner.’
Ronald Lee, a School of Hospitality Administration sophomore, said he spent the vacation at a friend’s place in Boston.
‘The 24-hour flight home to Taiwan was too long for a four-day vacation, and staying there was free,’ he said.
College of General Studies sophomore Erika Porres said she stayed at a friend’s apartment because she could not afford the trip to Houston. She also didn’t want to ‘spend all that extra money and then spend the holiday with someone I don’t know,’ she said of the random roommate she could have encountered at the hotel.
‘I’m going to try to cook,’ she said. ‘I guess I should be thankful for this learning opportunity.’
Some students took advantage of the time off to travel to places other than home.
Paprika Lebourgeois, a School of Management senior, traveled to Dallas to celebrate Thanksgiving with some family friends instead of going home to Paris.
‘It’s nice to be near a family,’ she said. ‘I wanted to get off campus because I am only here for one semester, and when you’re here you want to visit around.’
Those who stayed in their apartments were able to assume a more relaxed attitude for the break. COM junior Matt Jacobs, who came to BU from San Francisco, said he enjoyed being allowed to stay in the Student Residences at 10 Buick St.
‘I’m going to be there in a few weeks anyway,’ he said of San Francisco. ‘And I didn’t mind just hanging out here.’