Students, faculty, and staff ring in the season with annual Holiday Dinner

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Utica Stories
Students, faculty, and staff ring in the season with annual Holiday Dinner

Santa Claus visits with students at the 2025 Holiday Dinner.

“We want them to feel like Utica is home."

Students enter the dining hall, greeted by faculty at the 2025 Holiday Dinner.

The holiday season is here once again and before the semester draws to a close, the campus came together to ring in the season for Utica University students with the annual Holiday Dinner.

Hosted by Utica’s Student Involvement and Leadership Office and held in Strebel Dining Commons, students were welcomed by and waited on by some of their favorite faculty and staff members, enjoying a variety of festive foods, including brisket, turkey, mased potatoes, shrimp, a mac and cheese bar, and plenty of holiday desserts. No one went away hungry.

“The Student Involvement and Leadership Office work with Sodexo to ensure that every student, regardless of meal plan, gets a nice meal,” said Associate Dean of Students and Campus Engagement Lauryn Moore.

Staff ready to serve students at the 2025 Holiday Dinner.

The long-standing annual tradition not only gives students an evening of reprieve amid the wind-down of classes and the ramp-up of final exams and projects but also helps support an important cause – Utica University’s own food pantry, Tangerine Grove.

For each non-perishable item for Tangerine Grove that students brought in, they were given a raffle ticket toward a drawing for a $50 Amazon Gift Card.

“It offers a chance to see our faculty and staff come out in a way for students that’s not typical,” Moore explained. “They’re not behind a desk; they’re not teaching lessons or giving exams. They get to go up to the tables and interact with students while wearing silly aprons. It’s a really nice event and they get to see so many of us in a different light.”

With so many friendly faces moving about tables, competition was fierce for who made the most lasting impression of the night among the faculty and staff, with students voting on their favorite.

Diane Pudney with Santa Claus at the 2025 Holiday Dinner.

“There’s a trophy that moves from office to office every year,” Moore said. “It can get quite competitive.”

This year, students crowned Coordinator of Events and Conferences Diane Pudney the “Favorite Server” of the evening.

Tina Oyer Ponce and the Utica University String Ensemble, made up of students and community members and includes violins, violas, cellos, and double basses, kept up the holiday mood with performances throughout.

Utica University String Ensemble plays at the 2025 Holiday Dinner.

While the music played, the phones and cameras clicked, as several holiday backdrops provided students with the opportunity to take pictures – whether by themselves, with friends, teammates, or members of the Utica University community.

“We really want them to feel special for the night,” Moore says. “This is somewhere where many of them are probably eating three meals a day throughout the semester but when they walk in for this event, the place is transformed into a winter wonderland and we hope maybe they have a really nice night seeing their friends, faculty, staff, teammates, in a different way and show that we really are family.”

The beloved event brought joy not only in the camaraderie and fellowship at each table, but with an appearance by the very symbol of the holiday spirit itself – Santa Claus – who made time during his very busy season to stop and chat with Pioneers about their lives, their traditions, and their plans for winter break.

Students waited on by faculty and staff at the 2025 Holiday Dinner.

With more than 700 students attending, it was more than the typical crowd for dinner on-campus, and organizers hope the fun, food, and spirit of the season makes it feel a little more special.

“We turn down the lights low, we light candles, and we really try to make it feel like home,” Moore says. “We want them to feel like Utica is home and this is one of those events that helps them feel that way. And for us, it’s one of those moments that remind you why you work at the institution; why we do this.”