How Does Gallaudet University Celebrate the Holidays?

Hello, I'm Angela McCaskill
from the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
This video is sponsored by different groups on campus
including the Office of Diversity and Equity
for Students and Student Body Government (SBG).
Go ahead and watch this video,
it will show you the rich culture, history,
and traditions we have here at Gallaudet.
It will also show you show you how we celebrate the holidays.
Elvia Guillermo: Posada is a ceremony in Mexico.
It is not only a Catholic ceremony
but other religions also celebrate Posada in Mexico.
Posada means "shelter" and the ceremony lasts
nine nights to remember Jesus' mother, Mary
and her nine-month pregnancy.
The story is begins with Mary and Joseph
who look for shelter, which is parallel to people
who are hosting the party at their home.
The guests dress up like pilgrims, like Mary and Joseph,
the shepherds, and angels.
When the guests arrive at the host's house,
they stand outside the door and sing.
People inside the house will listen and sing back,
then the host will open the door for the guests
to enter and socialize and eat.
We usually eat tamales and other Mexican dishes.
After we finish socializing,
we will have a piñata that looks like a star with 7 points
for people to play with.
Young or old, it doesn't
matter, different people will try to hit the piñata
and have the seven points fall.
When the seven points fall,
it means the forgiveness of the seven sins.
When the whole star falls and breaks,
it represents a blessing.
Anyway, that is the Mexican tradition
that has been celebrated for many years.
Hillel Goldberg: Hanukkah is about a story
that started a long time ago in a temple that was destroyed.
Someone entered the temple and saw a small oil lamp
was still burning.
So people saw that and assumed
that it would only burn for a few more hours.
Instead, a miracle happened and shocked many.
It kept burning for eight more days,
which is why we have eight candles.
Now, it is a tradition for Jewish people
to make potato pancakes which are called latkes.
They are cooked using oil,
which is also to remember the oil lamp.
My family and my wife begins the celebration
as the sun sets, we light the first candle.
On the next night, we light the second one
which means two candles are lit, then on the third day,
three are lit, and so on.
On each night we tend to exchange Hanukkah gifts,
write cards to each other, make latkes,
and invite friends over.
And that sums up Hanukkah.
Oluyinka Fakunle: As a kid growing up in Nigeria,
Christmas is always a time to look forward to.
My parents took us to visit "Father Christmas"
(here known as Santa Claus)
and we get lots of gifts.
This is a time we looked forward to.
My parents also bought us new clothes and shoes
that we wore to church on Christmas Day.
On Christmas morning, my mother and the female members
of our family get up early
to prepare the food for the day
and we go to church in our new clothes and shoes.
When we get back from church,
we start the celebration: food, drinks and music.
We also have friends and family visiting
as well as our neighbors so we all sit down
to enjoy this festive time.
Most adults give kids monetary gifts,
as we do not really exchange Christmas gifts.
We really enjoy this time.
I hope you have a wonderful Christmas
and as they say in my language "E ku Odun, E ku Iyedun."
Davina Kwong: , our family celebrates different
American and Chinese holidays
but the most important one
is to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
We make sure we honor our past ancestors,
make special food and candies,
and the best part of our religion is
we give lucky money to family, friends, and kids.
We wish everyone a happy and healthy new year.
I'd like to wish everyone a happy new year,
Gong Xi Fa Cai, [Happy New Year in Mandarin-Chinese].
Marlene De Jesus: We celebrate Christmas Eve and the Three Kings.
For Christmas Eve,
the parents tend to take the children to church to sing
and then we go to other family members' home.
We usually eat and give children gifts,
which tend to be monetary.
After that we usually go to other homes
and sing outside their house all night.
As for the Three Kings, we follow the same concept
as Christmas Eve except this time
the children receive monetary gifts
from their parents under their bed
for the children to find it in the morning.
On that day, the family goes to church
and sing and have worship.
After church, we tend to go to our Grandparents' house
and celebrate Christmas by singing also.
After we finish there,
sometimes we sing outside different houses also.
There are twelve days between Christmas Eve
and Three Kings Day.
We celebrate Three Kings Day to remember those
who followed the stars
to find Joseph, Mary, and Jesus the baby.
On that day, we give money and we worship.
That's it!
Shilpa Hanumantha: I was born in India, a few years later my family and I
moved to America, since then I've grown up here.
I always celebrate different holidays
but one holiday always stands out to me, Diwali.
Diwali means "the Festival of Lights,"
which happens around October to November.
I always remember Diwali, I still celebrate it today!
How Diwali is celebrated is when Hindu people
gather together, such as friends and family,
and we dress up in bright and colorful clothing
such as a sari or a salwar kameez,
which is basically pants with a long top.
We put on bangles, nail polish, make up, bindis,
braid our hair, and so on.
It's important to have fun as we dress up
because we don't do that often here in America
so because Diwali is a one time thing a year,
we have fun dressing up nice.
At home, we decorate inside with candles lit every day
in front of the windows, and we have chalk artwork
on the sidewalks using different colors.
In addition to that we have small gifts
for family and friends.
Diwali is celebrated when someone hosts a huge party
at their house, and all of us will gather together there.
We bring food but the host will also cook up
a huge feast, spicy delicious Indian food, yum.
We all get together and talk, it is always nice and fun
to reminisce memories from India
while enjoying delicious food.
We also exchange gifts there.
The main reason why we celebrate Diwali is
to appreciate who we are as Hindu,
to appreciate our religion and culture.
Basically appreciate who we are.
It's fun, sometimes I bring my friends
and show them how we celebrate.
Again, Diwali is a huge holiday celebration for us
that we still cherish today.
I always look forward to celebrating it every year.
Again, Happy Diwali to you too.
Johanna Katz: I'm from Argentina and I'm Jewish.
Soon, I'll be flying home and will have
an opportunity to celebrate Hanukkah
with a big Menorah with eight candles.
The President will light the first candle
and Hanukkah will last for seven days.
Also, Purim is when we can dress up with clothing
that represents that era.
It's fun!
We also eat chocolate gold coins and play with the dreidel.
Happy Holidays to you all!
Fernando Contreras: My family celebrates the traditional holiday
in December, Our Lady of Guadalupe.
It is a Catholic tradition where we worship and honor
Our Lady of Guadalupe, the virgin mother
who gave birth to Jesus.
We kneel with our rosary beads and pray.
Some people usually light candles.
After we finish our worship,
we usually have tamales with hot chocolate.
We enjoy the food and socialize.
Some people will give Christmas gifts.
We have a good time having fun together with our families.
Judy Stout: My family, my brothers and sisters get together
in North Carolina every year for Christmas.
We gather in the family room in a circle
and the children open their gifts first.
After all the children finish opening their gifts,
the parents open their gifts,
and finally the brothers and sisters,
the parents of the children, open the gifts.
The interesting part is that the sitting around
in a circle represents "life" so when my parents pass away,
we still pass on the traditions to our children.
It's a tradition we value every year.
Our tribal government in North Carolina hosts
a Christmas parade every year.
The girls and boys' club participate in the parade,
they always feel inspired to be involved.
Also what we do, different Indian houses are identified
to host Christmas at their homes
in the different regions.
Other people who visit these homes give monetary donations
to help support health clinics.
Now, our people wish you a Merry Christmas!
Bader Alomary: I'm from Saudi Arabia, I come here
as an International student at Gallaudet University.
We celebrate three holidays in Saudi Arabia,
Ramadan, Eid Al-fitr, and Eid Al-Adhua
which is of the Islam religion.
The Islamic calendar has 354 or 355 days compared
to the Gregorian calendar which has 365 days
because the Islamic calendar follows the moon.
After we finish celebrating Ramadan
for thirty days, we celebrate Eid Al-fitr.
We celebrate two days with other deaf people
and socializing and we give money to the poor.
At the end of the year, we celebrate Eid Al-Adhua.
Prophet Abraham dreamt that God told him to kill
his son but God sent a sheep instead to be killed.
So Prophet Abraham didn't have to kill his son,
and thanked God for his blessing.
So he sacrificed the lamb so we remember
that during the holiday.
It doesn't matter how small or big our meat is,
we always give some to the poor or our neighbors.
Eid Mubarak!
Kozue Fukunaga and Ikumi Kawamata: New Year's Day is a big celebration in Japan.
We will share with you how we celebrate New Year's Day.
A few weeks before New Year's Day,
the children will clean the house
and the mothers will cook the food.
Mothers cook traditional foods, called Osechi.
It's delicious!
On the 31st, monks at a temple will ring
the big bell, all day.
Ringing the bell means to announce to the world
that New Year's Day is soon approaching.
Some people go to the temple to watch
while others watch it on TV.
As midnight comes, people celebrate with cheer.
On New Year's Day, family and relatives gather
and eat the Osechi together.
There are different foods in the Osechi
that have different meanings,
but they all mean good luck to you.
The children are so excited to get monetary gifts
in small envelopes from adults.
Children must thank them, "Arigato,"
as they receive their gift.
Akemashite Omedetoh Gozaimasu, [Happy New Year in Japanese]!
Elena Ruiz: I grew up celebrating Christmas.
On Christmas Eve, we get together
and we cook a big feast and enjoy each other's company.
After dinner, we open our presents
and continue to be together.
Christmas Eve is an important holiday in Latin America.
I am President Alan Hurwitz
and as the 2011 year draws an end,
I would like to thank each of you for being a part
of the Gallaudet University community.
This also marks the end of my 2nd year
as Gallaudet 10th president.
I wish to thank you all for a productive year.
I hope you have enjoyed
the Office of Diversity and Inclusion
2011 Holiday Celebration at Gallaudet.
As you can see, Gallaudet University is
a very unique, bilingual, and diverse community
representing 52 nations from around the world.
At Gallaudet University, we celebrate
all of our cultures in more ways than we can possibly recognize.
While we have made every effort to celebrate
the rich diversity of our community,
we hope that you have enjoyed the holiday program
brought to you by our students,
faculty, staff and administrators.
Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Happy Kwanzaa,
Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Holidays!
We wish you and your family a safe
and happy holiday season,
and here's to an even better and more successful 2012!