The annual Winter Wonderland, a Stevens holiday-season tradition featuring food and drinks, performances, giveaways, and a variety of winter-themed activities, will be taking place on Wednesday, November 30, from 7 to 10 p.m. In preparation for the event, which was known in previous years as the Stevens Tree Lighting, the Entertainment Committee (EC) is looking for involvement from undergraduate and graduate students in a variety of capacities.
One perennial feature of the Wonderland is the Winter Village, which invites Stevens’ cultural and religious organizations to exchange traditions, share food, and present giveaways to the student body. EC will allocate a table at the Village and $175 to $200 in funding for interested organizations wishing to share their heritages with Stevens students and participate in a demonstration of cross-cultural harmony.
EC Festivities Director Corey Batchelder offered his own description of the event. “The Winter Village will take place on MPK Lawn and will be an opportunity for students to travel from table to table and learn about different holiday and seasonal traditions from Stevens cultural and religious organizations,” Batchelder told The Stute in an email interview. “We are encouraging orgs and providing allocations to order food, giveaways, or any educational tools to help them share any traditions!”
Kayli Gregory, Holiday Event Coordinator for the EC, noted the mutual benefits for attendees and participating organizations. “The Winter Village is a great opportunity to promote cultural orgs here at Stevens. Many new first-years or even upperclassmen may not know about the organization, and they may get new interested members. It is a good way to teach students the different ways to celebrate holidays and bring new traditions into our Winter Wonderland.”
The submission deadline for receiving a place at the Village has been extended to November 18, with table sitting and the purchasing of items subject to approval by the Office of Student Life. The Winter Village will take place on MPK Lawn from 8:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
This year will see the 3rd Annual Stevens Santa Competition. Described by the Entertainment Committee as a competition to see which Stevens organization “has the most holiday spirit,” participating organizations will select a representative to compete in the games.
“To me, the Santa Competition asks the bold question: ‘What if you merged a holiday pageant and a minute-to-win-it game show into a battle of the orgs!?’” said Batchelder. “The Santa Competition is a very fun and lighthearted competition that is great for bonding, whether it’s a sports team, or Greek organization or club here at Stevens,” added Gregory.
The winning representative will be crowned this year’s “Stevens Santa,” bestowing one Stevens organization with holiday prestige and festive bragging rights. The event will last from 7:30 p.m. to 8:15 p.m., and the winning organization will be rewarded with an Entertainment Committee-funded pizza party at their next general body meeting.
Another principal component of every Winter Wonderland in the past has been student performances. The Entertainment Committee is seeking sign-ups for graduates or undergraduates to show off their skills with singing, dancing, or other forms of performance.
Batchelder outlined the range of offerings students can already look forward to. “We have performances slated that range from our Stevens acapella groups, TECHnique dance ensembles, student bands, solo acts, and more. Check out EC’s socials for a more detailed lineup of when you can catch your friends’ performances!” Spots are first-come first-serve for interested students, with stage and equipment needs provided by the organizers.
Batchelder and other organizers in the Entertainment Committee offered more details on the planning process this year for the Winter Wonderland. Batchelder said that one significant change this year is the event’s new name and rebranding from the old Holiday Tree Lighting. “EC felt [the old name] could use an update. EC has the responsibility to engage the entire student body in our large-scale events, so we decided to adjust the branding and vision of the event to make sure that all winter holidays and seasonal traditions can be shared and celebrated together as a campus community.”
Batchelder went on to say, “This is also the first year we have graduate students involved in the planning of the event. We are hoping to create better engagement with graduate students in the planning and attendance of our large-scale campus tradition events such as Winter Wonderland and Techfest. The committee has opened up festivities meetings to the entire grad and undergrad community on Wednesdays at 4 p.m. to get involved in the planning process.”
When asked what part of the Winter Wonderland they were most looking forward to, Gregory pointed to the Winter Wonderland Holiday Duck Market, which will allow small business owners to get involved with the Winter Wonderland by signing up to sell goods. “I’m interested to see what side hustles students have created and run while still being in school. It’s nice to support small businesses, especially college students, because I think we all know how difficult it is to make an income while being a full time student.”
EC Operations Director Victoria Giumenta had a different answer. “I’m always excited for the food, but I’m also excited to see how STEM students express their creativity during the performances in Walker Gym. Especially TECHnique—shameless plug!”
Stevens students interested in going to the Winter Wonderland, whether undergraduate or graduate, won’t need to spend any meal swipes for food and hot cocoa, and only need to swipe their Student IDs to take part in the festivities.
Be First to Comment