Rider University will usher in the holiday season with its 14th annual Celebration of Lights on Thursday, December 8 at 5 p.m. in the Bart Luedeke Center Cavalla Room.

It brings together students, faculty and staff from Rider's Lawrenceville and Westminster campuses for this multicultural holiday observance. In all the observances, light is a common bond in the different holiday traditions and, for the Rider community, a point of unity.

As in previous years, the holiday stations will include Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Three Kings Day, and the seasonal customs of the Muslim faith. This year, Winter Solstice rites, as practiced by Native Americans, will be observed. Students from various campus organizations and different walks of life will share holiday traditions, food, music, prayers and stories in a festive display of Rider's diversity. The Posada, a Latin American community holiday tradition, will tie the stations together with a musical procession by students in the Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity.

Perry Whiteley, president of the Student Government Association (SGA), will present opening remarks. Dr. William Guthrie, professor emeritus of education, returns again this year to open the ceremony with Native American folklore stories. He will then create fire by natural means. That flame will be used to light Rider's unity candle - a tradition now in its 12th year. The flame from the Rider candle will then light the candles of those in attendance.

"Celebration of Lights is a reflection of what ties various cultural traditions together - peace, love, and unity," said Don Brown, director of the Center for Multicultural Affairs and Community Service. "What many people on campus find so enjoyable about this program is that it is purely celebratory."

A table will be displayed highlighting the mission of Rider's Midnight Run to help feed and cloth the homeless.

Christian Stück, president of Westminster Choir College of Rider Univeristy SGA, will lead participants in the singing of "Let There Be Peace on Earth." Jamiyl Mosley, area director of residence life, will read a poem. The gathering will conclude with the unity song, "Let There Be Peace on Earth."