As we seal the year with our last issue of the fall semester, we look forward to heading home for the holidays for some rest and relaxation with our families. But first comes the highlight of the semester for many students: Christmas on Campus.

Today, throngs of children and the students who accompany them will travel all across campus, participating in activities, exchanging gifts and meeting Santa Claus. The kids love it because they get to run around on this exciting campus, and the students love it because they get to share their home with new friends.

However, it’s important to remember that Christmas on Campus is not supposed to be our only day to reach out to, and celebrate with, the surrounding community. Rather, as a Catholic, Marianist institution, we should use every day to serve those around us, rather than saving all of our energy for one day of the year.

It’s sometimes easy to think that we can plan all year for a day of service and fill some kind of a “good deed quota.” We trade our everyday opportunities to make a true difference for the show and pageantry of a one-time celebration.

We hope that that’s not how people look at Christmas on Campus. The event is a wonderful opportunity for us to serve our community, celebrate a religious holiday and do something special for the children of Dayton.

However, we should also remember it as a day not just to do service, but to celebrate service. Rather than treating it as a “get to heaven free card,” we should look at it as another part of our human obligation to be active participants in the community around us.

We hope you have a fun and meaningful Christmas on Campus, and we hope that you make it a special day for the children who participate. It’s a beautiful celebration of the university’s everyday commitment to our local and global community.

Merry Christmas, and God bless the University of Dayton.

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