The holidays at MIT are filled with festive happenings: dances, a cappella groups singing carols, even spontaneous free hot chocolate in the Student Center. But three MIT students felt one thing was missing from campus during the holiday season: a lot of twinkly lights. That will change this Dec. 9 thanks to a new and aptly named student group called Tech Twinkles.
“I’m natively from Texas, so when I got here my first year the winter was kind of shocking with how cold it was,” says Teresa de Figueiredo ’17 of Tech Twinkles. “But, when I took a trip to Newbury Street around this time of year and saw all of the lights in the trees lining the streets and it felt so much warmer, it made me kind of sad that MIT doesn’t have anything like that. So we decided to change it.”
With that in mind de Figueiredo, along with fellow sophomore Veronika Jedryka and senior Jane He, set out to add a little holiday twinkle to MIT with the support of Dean Chris Colombo and staff from the Division of Student Life.
“We really (want) to drive home the fact that this is open to everyone: faculty, undergraduates, graduates, everyone is welcome,” said Jedryka. “Lots of people in the MIT community are stuck inside from the cold doing lots of work, so we wanted to have a nice reprieve from that and let everyone be together for something that’s connected.”
In addition to adding an abundance of lights to the areas surrounding the Zeisger Fitness Center, the Dec. 9 tree-lighting will include free hot chocolate and desserts, as well as a special performance by The Chorallaries, making for a festive event intended to warm hearts and brighten the wintery night.
“We’re just really excited this is happening,” said de Figueiredo. “In the future we want to expand to other pathways around campus, and try to make the whole campus shine in the following years.”
The lighting ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 9, at 5:30 p.m. in front of the Zesiger Fitness Center. In case of inclement weather, the ceremony will take place in the Z Center lobby. Please RSVP via the Facebook event or simply come to the Z Center at the start of the festivities.
