Penn, pumpkins and poultry

Even though they were few and far between, the students who stuck around Penn's campus for Thanksgiving still found a way to celebrate Turkey Day with all the trimmings. Several college houses sponsored Thanksgiving dinners, and others helped pair students with faculty and staff for the evening. "We try to make it feel like everyone has a place to go," Community House Faculty Master Linda Brown said. And at Harnwell College House, residents didn't have to look any further than their own rooftop lounge. Graduate Assistant Cory Thorne organized a Thanksgiving dinner catered by Philadelphia's own Montserrat bistro -- complete with several turkeys, pecan and pumpkin pies, cranberry sauce and "all the regular stuff." Thorne said that more than 40 people signed up for the Thursday afternoon dinner, although not everyone on the list managed to make it. Still, Thorne called it "a good success," considering how empty the high rise was over the holiday weekend. Residents of Stouffer College House also got to enjoy traditional Thanksgiving fare, served hot from the kitchen of their own faculty master's apartment. Around 20 Stouffer residents joined Legal Studies Professor Phil Nichols, his wife and their three children on Thursday afternoon, and post-dinner gossiping and talking continued around the kitchen table for hours after the meal was done. "It was really pleasant," Nichols recalled. "People stayed for as long as they wanted." And to top off the night, students gathered around the Nichols family television for an evening viewing of Labyrinth. But according to Nichols, the holiday bonding between Stouffer residents wasn't anything extraordinary. "In this house, people hang out together all the time," he explained. Those who stayed on campus for the holiday also found a way to celebrate in the homes of local families, as several college houses paired up students with faculty or staff members for a home-cooked meal. Goldberg College House Dean Jane Rogers said college houses "always get calls from local people who want to host students who were here for the holiday." This year, she said, was no exception. But for those who did stay around for the holiday, there was little activity over the weekend. "It was really mellow," Nichols said. "People rested mostly." And Rogers said that when she got back to campus on Saturday after vacationing for the holiday, she couldn't believe how quiet the campus was. "I was unloading my car in the middle of the Quad, and I didn't see anybody for 10 minutes," she said. "It seemed very quiet Saturday night and through a lot of Sunday."

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