DAYTON, Ohio — In a normal year, late November would mean it's time for the University of Dayton to invite the community onto campus to celebrate the holidays.


What You Need To Know

  • University of Dayton canceled in-person Christmas on Campus events

  • Students made gift and craft bags for elementary school children

  • They co-wrote a book to make sure kids still got to connect with the university despite the distance

The annual tradition has a 57-year history, but in 2020 it took place from a distance.

Undergraduate students put together hundreds of craft kits to send to area elementary school students to simulate the activities they would do on campus. The school also opened an online gift drive to collect presents for patients at Dayton Children's Hospital.

Dana Roscoe, one of the co-coordinators of the event, said she and her team had been planning Christmas on Campus since February. Despite the pandemic, she said canceling the event altogether was never on the table.

"As UD students, it's very important to us to give back to a community that's given us so much,” she said. "So, I think that's why it's so important to continue to hold this event no matter like what capacity we could do it at."

To make sure there was a still a personal touch for the kids who would usually attend, the UD students worked with elementary students to write and illustrate a picture book about this year's Christmas experience.

The book went home with hundreds of Dayton children.