What to do if you are staying on campus over Thanksgiving break

If you’re staying on campus for Thanksgiving Break, there’s no reason to sit alone in your dorm all weekend. There are several opportunities available, both on campus and off, to keep you busy over the holiday.

Common Ground sponsored Thanksgiving dinner in The Cellar

Common Ground, partnered with the Chaplaincy and Dining Services, will provide a free Thanksgiving Day dinner at 3 p.m. on Thursday Nov. 26 in The Cellar. Anyone wishing to dine at the dinner must pre-register here. Volunteers are also needed serve the meal and staff, faculty and students are welcome to help. Volunteers may sign up here.

Free shuttles to Short Pump on Black Friday

There will be a Black Friday shuttle to Short Pump Town Center on Friday, Nov. 27 courtesy of UR Transportation services and Common Ground. The shuttle will leave campus at 12 p.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. with the last return shuttle picking up at Short Pump at 7 p.m.

Facebook group for students staying on campus

A Facebook group for students who will be remaining on campus over the break has been created and is available to join here. Students can search for friends to hang out with or eat meals together, as well as share rides and apartment spaces.

Annual Turkey Trot 10K still open for registration and run on campus

The annual Richmond Turkey Trot 10K race will take place on Thanksgiving morning, Thursday, Nov. 26, beginning at 9 a.m. The race takes place on the University of Richmond campus, with the starting line placed outside the Tyler Haynes Commons. Registration to run in the race is still open and available here. Volunteers for the event are also needed and anyone interested may sign up here.

Dominion Gardenfest of Lights

Starting on Friday, Nov. 27, The Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden will host its annual Dominion Gardenfest of Lights. There will be hand-crafted botanical decorations, holiday dinners, model trains, a fire pit with s’mores and over half-a-million twinkling lights on display. The event will occur every night from 5-10 p.m. until Jan. 11. More information, including ticket purchasing, can be found here.

Altered hours for the dining hall and other dining locations

Dining services will have revised openings and hours over Thanksgiving Break. The Heilman Dining Center will open at regular time on Tuesday, Nov. 24 and close early at 3 p.m. It will remain closed until Sunday, Nov. 29 at 11 a.m. All dining locations will have modified hours over break. Additionally, all dining services locations will be closed from Thursday, Nov. 26 to Saturday, Nov. 28. The full schedule of closings and open hours is available here.

Shuttle schedules and times revised for break

The Daily Connector will run through Tuesday, Nov. 24 and will resume its service on Sunday, Nov. 29. The UR Downtown shuttle’s last day of service is Tuesday, Nov. 24 and will resume again on Monday, Nov. 30. The Spider Mall Crawl shuttle ended its service Saturday, Nov. 21, and will not resume until Friday, Dec. 4. The Campus Loop’s last day of service is Monday, Nov. 23 and it will begin running again on Sunday, Nov. 29. The entire schedule for the shuttle services over break is available here. 

Contact news assistant Ashlee Korlach at ashlee.korlach@richmond.edu and features assistant Stephanie Hagan at stephanie.hagan@richmond.edu.