Dixie State University will become a home away from home for some students who will be spending the holiday break on campus.
Many students staying on campus are international students, like Irem Dilek, a freshman general studies major from Izmir, Turkey.
“I’m broke, and I can’t go home,” Dilek said. “I’m sad I can’t leave because all of my friends are leaving me for the Christmas break.”
Despite some students staying on campus during the holiday break, the campus will be nearly completely closed between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2. This will mean there will be limited access to services like campus dining services during this week.
Carole Hulet, assistant director of International Student Services, said there are many international students who stay on campus during the holiday break. In the past, she said there have been small activities held on campus that International Student Services put together for those students staying, but no events will be held this year due to the campus closing.
This is the first time in DSU history that the campus will be closed for a week during the holiday break, said Dean of Students Del Beatty. Beatty said activity on campus between Christmas and New Years’ has been tracked and it is always incredibly low.
“It’s a waste of resources to keep over 1,000 employees sitting in offices with the lights and heat on for nothing to happen,” Beatty said.
For students living on campus with meal plans, they will be given vouchers for meals local restaurants like Wendy’s while the Trailblazer Cafe is closed, said Martin Peterson, director of campus dining services. Everton Araujo, assistant director of international student services, said he doesn’t foresee campus dining being a problem for international students and said it will be a nice break from the same rotation of meals.
While campus will be closed, several renovations will be happening at DSU, said Paul Morris, vice president of administrative affairs. Subway will be moved down the hall from the Trailblazer Cafe to the Market in the Gardner Student Center. A Mexican grill with tacos and burritos will take it’s place in the Trailblazer Cafe. The campus store on 100 S. will also be closed at the end of December to be remodeled as the new Health and Wellness Center.
“These renovations aren’t the reason campus will be closed,” Morris said. “It’s just a holiday thing because of when Christmas and New Years’ are this year.”
Additional reporting was done by Jonny Weakley, Diana Fossett and Markee Heckenliable.