When “The OC’s” Seth Cohen coined the term “Chrismukkah” in 2003, it marked a turning point for the holiday season. By capsulizing the commercialization of Christmas and Hanukkah, it revealed that religious holidays have become less about faith and more about pop culture.
At Northeastern, a private, secular university with a diverse student body, there are both holiday trees and a menorah displayed in Krentzman Quad, but functions of popular religious icons have changed, said Shelli Jankowski-Smith, director of the Spiritual Life Center.
“[They are] both based in religious traditions, but they’ve also become cultural icons,” she said. “They’ve transcended one faith group that understands them and have become symbols of American culture.”
While certain symbols are given more exposure than others, Jankowski-Smith said Northeastern is home to many religions, including Unitarian Universalists, Sihkis, Hindus and Buddhists. While Roman Catholics represent the largest faith on campus, “we don’t proportionally offer the biggest number [of events] to Catholics,” Jankowski-Smith said.
“Our approach is to reach out to everyone and give everyone a chance to learn about different things,” she said.
In an effort to do just that, The Catholic Center at NU, the Catholic Student Association and NU Hillel are collaborating to celebrate Chrismukkah, to bring students of both Catholic and Jewish faiths together. At the Catholic Center, there will be a Yankee-swap, a menorah lighting, a dreidel game and Christmas and Hanukkah-based food Thursday starting at 7:30 p.m.
“All of the different chaplains work really well together,” said Beth Daley, director of Hillel, who noted that Chrismukkah will be the first of many more collaborations between the two centers. “It’s not just a chance to eat together, but to teach each other about each other’s faiths.”
Hillel is hosting its own Hanukkah party Wednesday at 7 p.m, with food, games and music. Daley said while Hanukkah is not a major holiday within the Jewish faith, a distinction that goes to Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Passover, it’s still an opportunity for students to get together and celebrate.
“With the commercialization of Christmas and Hanukkah, the gift-giving came from Americans,” she said. “It’s a celebration of religious freedom. A lot of people [outside the Jewish faith] don’t know the real origins [of Hanukkah]. Now people take it as a really good community-building holiday.”
The Spiritual Life Center is sponsoring a menorah lighting on the Krentzman Quad tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and screenings of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “Joyeux Noel” Wednesday at 6:30 pm. in the Sacred Space.
Still, students agree the meaning of the holidays has changed.
“I don’t see [Christmas] as a religious holiday anymore. It’s more about people getting presents,” said Mouaad Lebeche, president of the Islamic Society at NU. “Where did Santa Claus come from? It’s not in the Bible.”
Lebeche said Northeastern has always been open to students of all faiths.
“I really like how accepting they are of different student groups,” he said.
Lebeche said the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha falls on Dec. 20, which occurs differently each year due to its rotation on the lunar calendar. This day honors the story of Abraham and Issac, and it’s a celebration of mercy and sacrifice.
Northeastern, as a university, isn’t sponsoring anything to honor the holiday, but neither is the Islamic Society.
“Here in America, we’re surrounded by the Catholic majority. Overseas, they know about it for weeks in advance,” Lebeche said. “It’s a laid-back kind of day, you take it easy. It changes every year, so people forget when it’s going to be. … It’s just a good time to spend time with your family.”
Stanley Porter, operations manager for the John D. O’Byrant African-American Institute, said Northeastern isn’t focusing too much on a specific religion. He spoke of the importance of allowing students of different faiths to celebrate holidays accordingly.
“Around this time, it appears to be that people have their community-based functions and areas to celebrate for specific denominations and ethnic groups,” he said. “I do understand that it’s important for people to have their cultural celebrations, and be comfortable to celebrate them on campus.”
The institute will host a Kwanzaa celebration Friday at 5 p.m. in the Cabral Center of the African-American Institute. It will be centered around the seven principles of Kwanzaa, with a candle lighting ceremony, a dinner and a statement that will be read to explain the meaning of the holiday.
“It will be a time for the community to reflect on these different principles and how they’ve played out in their lives,” Porter said.
The event will be open to the entire Northeastern community, not just those who celebrate Kwanzaa.
“From our director’s perspective, it was his desire to have a Kwanzaa ceremony to be an open forum because it’s about a collective consciousness,” Porter said.
Jankowski-Smith said the holiday season is a way to share in each other’s experiences.
“We need to honor the breadth of diversity that’s being honored in our community,” she said. “But it’s also to help all communities understand and grow and learn about one another and share the fun stuff. Our diversity is interesting and it’s a great opportunity at college to learn about one another.”
