Celebrating the Holidays At Elmira

The Holiday Banquet & Ball celebration is the oldest of Elmira College's many time-honored traditions. The banquet has endured through wars and depressions as well as through our nation's prosperity.

The Holiday Banquet is a semi-formal affair, and begins a weekend of traditional holiday festivities. The Holiday Ball is held the following evening.

Students "invite" their favorite faculty member or administrator to join them for a traditional Thanksgiving holiday dinner. Faculty and administrators serve the students dinner, carving turkeys and passing dishes in a family style meal.

In keeping with tradition, the graduating class presents a holiday ornament that had special significance to Elmira College. The class officers present Dr. Thomas Meier, President, with the ornament to adorn the tree in the Dining Hall. At the end of the Holiday Banquet, members of the graduating class lead the room in traditional holiday songs.