Holiday greetings celebrate resilience

Holiday greetings celebrate resilience—and hope

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The academic year started out triumphant, as colleges returned to in-person learning after the COVID-19 pandemic prompted most campuses to go remote last year. Students, largely vaccinated and often masked, resumed activities, sports and social events. Things felt almost normal again.

The sudden arrival of the Omicron variant spurred some campuses to close early and creates uncertainty for the coming semester, but the season’s annual crop of holiday videos mainly focuses on the excitement of being reunited and hopes for a better next year.

Celebrating another year of resilience, Brown University honors members of its community, including the women’s volleyball team, the Indigenous Narragansett tribe and EmpowerU, an ed-tech start-up.

The University of Alabama’s video shows mascot Big Al decorating the campus with an assist from President Stuart Bell.

In Danville Area Community College’s offering, mascot Mick Jaguar spreads holiday cheer and helps students decorate a Christmas tree.

Indiana University’s video depicts students and community members helping President Pamela Whitten assemble a gingerbread house.

Many of the video greetings feature campus musical groups. In Duke University’s video, the a cappella groups Pitchforks and Out of the Blue sing “Let It Snow.”

Michigan State University’s College of Music greeting features a special brass quintet version of the classic “Sleigh Ride,” composed by Leroy Anderson.