Happy holidays from ’Hooville

Photo by Andrew Shurtleff

Music and food flowed freely throughout the Academical Village on Dec. 5, when a crowd of some 6,000 enjoyed the hospitality of Lawn and Pavilion residents and the entertainment of the Virginia Gentlemen (right).

U.Va. Men’s Basketball Coach Pete Gillen (right, center) recited an original poem, “’Twas the Night Before Finals,” written for the event by fourth-year student Jenny Rae Cortese. The Grinch and the Cavalier were on hand to act out lines in the poem, which ended with the phrase: “Let there be light.” And there was.

Some 3,000 yards of white holiday lights will continue to set the Lawn aglow through Jan. 1.

A Kwanzaa Fest that included a ceremony and dinner at Hereford College was held Dec. 5. Below, La Tasha Levy, assistant dean of African-American Affairs, assists one of the children who participated in the festival. Kwanzaa, Swahili for “first fruits,” is an African-American holiday celebrated each year from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1. U.Va.’s event was sponsored by the Office of African-American Affairs and Hereford College.

Photo by Andrew Shurtleff

Photo by Jenny Gerow