Thanksgiving Dinner on Campus

If you are on campus over the Thanksgiving holiday, you do not have to be alone. You can organize a Thanksgiving Day dinner with fellow students.

Chances are you are not the only one on campus over the holiday. Although the majority of college students will be heading home for Thanksgiving, there are many students who will have to stay on campus.

Students might choose not to go home for the Thanksgiving holiday for a variety of reasons. They may not have the money to travel home. They may attend a college that too far away to travel home for a short break. They might have a job or other obligations in the area.

Students who need to remain on campus over the holiday can still have a traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner. Below are the steps to organizing a Thanksgiving Day dinner with fellow students:

1. Find fellow students who are staying on campus
Ask your friends and acquaintances if they are going to be around over the holiday. You can also use social media sites or campus message boards to find fellow students who are staying on campus over Thanksgiving.

2. Select a venue
Many restaurants serve turkey on Thanksgiving Day. You can select a restaurant to have your Thanksgiving Day dinner. However, restaurants can be too expensive for a student budget. If any of the students who are remaining at college over the break are living in an apartment, their apartment can make a great venue for the dinner. Also, some campus dinning halls serve a Thanksgiving Day meal; after verifying that the dinning hall will be open and servicing Turkey, you can plan to have a meal with others at a campus dinning hall.

3. Prepare the meal
For those who are having their Thanksgiving Day dinner at a restaurant or at a campus dinning hall, the meal will be prepared for you. However, students who are meeting at an apartment will have to plan a meal. Students can share in the cooking and expenses. However, if none of the students attending enjoy cooking, there are alternatives. Some restaurants prepare traditional Thanksgiving Day meals for take out. Also, grocery stores often have traditional Thanksgiving meals in the deli, frozen food, and cold food sections that require very little preparation.

4. Create a tradition
Part of the fun of a Thanksgiving Day celebration is participating in family traditions. Even though it may only be for one day, you can still invent a ritual with the other students that will feel like a tradition. A great way to do this is to discuss everyone’s family Thanksgiving Day traditions and develop rituals that are a combination of each student’s family traditions.


While spending the Thanksgiving Day holiday on campus can feel lonely, or even sad, it can actually be a lot of fun. Finding fellow students to spend the holiday with can make all of the difference.