Deck the halls

The Street:

Back in the day, my favorite thing was to be driven up and down my neighborhood at night during the holiday season and to peer at all the obscenely decorated houses. I thought I would have to leave behind the streets full of twinkling fairy lights and laughably enormous wreaths when I came to college, but luckily for me, there is one street in Princeton University that keeps the tradition of decorating the home and hearth alive: Prospect Street.

While it is still early in the holiday season, a few of the eating clubs are already decked out in holiday splendor. Tower grabs your attention with a large, lighted wreath hanging on its eponymous exterior tower. Inside, a Christmas tree tall enough to graze the ceiling stands in the corner of the coat room. Tower’s general manager, Jim Forkel, orders the tree every year. The rest of the house is sprinkled with an assortment of figurines, mini trees, Christmas swags, lights and ribbons. “It really makes me miss Christmas back in England with all the logs leaning against the fireplace,” Angela Shin ’13 says. “We had that back at home, and it’s nice to see it in my club.”

Quad has a more modest but equally welcoming wreath hanging on its front door with a mess of fairy lights criss-crossing the exterior of the house. As a small tip-of-the-hat to Thanksgiving, two pumpkins sit outside the door. Inside, the fireplace is bedecked with candles, a pine mantelpiece, pine garlands and a wreath. “It makes Quad look more homey,” Kyle Ofori ’13 says.

Across the street, Colonial has a wreath hanging above its signature pillars. Social chair Angelica Ortiz ’12 and house manager Jason Pedraza ’11 were responsible for getting the 9.5-foot Christmas tree from a tree farm and into the club’s study. “We all decorated this room together during a study break,” says Gary Fox ’13. “We made a lot of the ornaments for the tree. It was just really nice how everyone contributed to making this room look so festive.” A menorah sits in front of one of the front windows, and the mounted elk in the study has been crowned with a silver wreath.

While the outside of Cottage is relatively bare, social chair Mike Flanagan ’12 tells me a tree is being delivered soon. Inside, a plastic Santa stands in the corner of the main room. Plastic cut-outs saying, “Merry Christmas” dangle from the wall lights and stockings hang above the fireplace with a string of poinsettias behind them. Flanagan himself has gotten into the holiday spirit, attaching a wreath to the grid of his four-wheel drive.

I happen upon Cloister just as social chair Mike Protesto ’12 is putting up the exterior lights. Directly inside is a row of four poinsettia plants. A Christmas tree rests in the corner of the main room right next to the members’ portraits. “I had the tree delivered last Sunday, and we had some cookies and hot chocolate and the members decorated it,” Protesto says. A lot of the club’s decorations are reused every year, and a box of holiday miscellanea waits on a nearby table to be put up.

Charter has pasted paper snowflakes over most of its glass surfaces. An ornately decorated Christmas tree greets me as soon as I enter the foyer. A garland of pine, lights and ribbons wrap around the railing of the staircase. Another garland covers the top of the fireplace in the sitting area. The newly elected junior officers were the driving force behind the decorations this year, though decorating the house was open to all club members. “The response has been fantastic,” says president Dan Fletcher ’12. “Everyone who I’ve talked to has been extremely excited about the decorations. Several have commented that the decorations make Charter feel more like their homes.”

As for the clubs that have yet to be decked out in bells and holly, members can rest easy. With two weeks before break, there is still plenty of time for the trees to be shipped, decorations to be collected and holiday study breaks to be organized.

- Lillian Li

The dorm rooms:

It’s that time of year again: Anticipation for the holidays is seeping into every aspect of life, even the Orange Bubble. All over campus, windows twinkle and blink with lights, and beautiful decorations adorn dorm rooms.

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In Blair 51, icicle lights and garlands outline a bay window, snowflakes dangle from the ceiling, stockings hang by the fireplace and a Christmas tree takes center stage. Little stuffed tigers hide in its boughs and a large bow sits on top. Arguably the best part of the display is the leopard print Snuggie tree skirt: What’s anything without animal print? In their second year of decorating, the room’s inhabitants enjoy the time to bond over their favorite song, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”

“This is the most exciting season for all of us, and we wish the school would do more to spruce up the campus for winter. It would lighten the mood during a stressful time,” Anjali Menon ’14 commented. Despite Fire Safety’s confiscation of their Advent wreath (Bah Humbug!), the girls will continue to do their part in spreading cheer by hosting a Christmas party for their hall.

Rocky seems to be a hotbed of holiday activity, particularly in Campbell. “It started with just a few lights in a window and then turned into this competition to see who could have the best window display,” says Rachel Shuman ’15. It is truly something to see: Numerous windows are filled with sparkling lights. They serve as a beacon for down trodden students trudging along — it reminds us there is something good on the way if we just hold on.

A more eclectic array of holiday decorations is on display in Butler 1967. “We like to keep it classy in room 311; that’s why we have a toilet seat cover on the wall,” Grace Murphy ’15 explains. In addition to the snowman toilet seat cover, a sequined Santa hat covers a shiny pink cowboy hat, Stars of David hang above Advent calendars and Rudolph cradles a Menorah. Rebecca Schreff ’15 describes the fusion of holidays: “The great thing about the holiday season is the sentiments are the same across religions. I love how the glittering blue and white of the Jewish stars picks up on the twinkling rainbow of the Christmas lights.”

Tidings of joy and the holiday spirit have even made their way over to distant Forbes. In Hadley Chu and Mary Funk ’15’s room, decorating has been a plan in motion since week one. In a picturesque window, stockings, lights and Santa hats flank a Disney-themed tree. It feels like walking straight into a winter wonderland with Christmas songs playing in the background (both girls have at least a hundred songs in their Christmas playlists). Mary’s decorating prowess originates from her family’s tradition of multiple themed trees at Christmastime (six trees total, including one for their dogs)! But Hadley and Mary don’t keep all the Christmas fun to themselves — a few days ago they ran down their hall leaving candy canes on everyone’s door and sharing tidings of joy.

So when things get to be too stressful in the days leading up to break, take a little light-seeing tour around campus. In the words of Mary Funk, “Lights in a window make me smile and bring happiness to our busy and hectic lives.”

- Katie Bauman

The colleges:

Winter break isn’t just about eating copious amounts of sugary confections and receiving luxury goods that you didn’t know existed but now realize you need. It’s a season that reminds you that you should be embarking on a cholesterol-laden, excessively lazy and unreasonably delightful vacation. If you aren’t being made aware that winter break is imminent, how will you

remember to get in the spirit to engage in such self-indulgence?

This brings us to the critical role of the residential colleges in creating that spirit. If we are unable to decorate your own room with holiday garnishing, we must rely on our nearby residential college to bring the holiday spirit to us. So which residential colleges have been doing their part to get you in the appropriate holiday spirit?

Whitman: In typical Whitman fashion, the privileged few who live in Meg’s castle now have an enormous Christmas tree adorning their dining hall. Laden with ornaments and lights, this gigantic tree is a luminous billboard of holiday cheer. Already comfortable with their spacious rooms, air conditioning, heating and private dinners, Whitmanites now also have one more thing to brag about. As a non-Whitmanite, I’m imploring the powers that be to halt any future decorations and donate them to those colleges that are struggling to welcome the holidays.

Rocky/Mathey: The holiday spirit has not been lost on those who inhabit the beautiful north campus residential colleges. Christmas lights are strewn elegantly across the walls of Rocky common room while a large wreath looks over the entrance of Mathey dining hall. Already arguably the most Harry Potter-esque colleges at Princeton, Rocky and Mathey are just a few decorations away from entering “Am I at the Yule Ball?” territory. Let’s hope they succeed.

Forbes: This holiday spirit is also not lost on our friends who live in Forbes College. Upon entering Forbes, your eyes are greeted by a lovely string of lights that decorate both the common room as well as the gorgeous patio. You can’t help but be fully embraced by the holidays if you are a Forbesian. Bravo, Forbes. Bravo.

Butler/Wilson: Apart from a box for donations near the front of Wu dining hall, somehow Wilcox has missed the holiday memo. Where are the wreaths? Boughs of holly? For those of us who frequent Wilson dining hall, how are we supposed to know that we should be expecting candy canes and gumdrops? Santa weeps for Wilson.

Trapped in the dark abyss of problem sets, final papers and independent work, Princeton students need decorations to know that winter break is approaching. Though Princeton may try to defeat the holiday spirit with post-break finals, we must stand strong and demand our holiday cheer.

- Nick Ellis