With Thanksgiving right around the corner and Christmas break following shortly, students and faculty should be prepared for the carols to burst forth.
With decorations already up, the debate begins: when should the Holy Nights and Santa Claus melodies swirl through the air on the cheery Christmas winds. Faculty and students remain divided on the topic.
Junior Brooke Scharn takes a common stance when it comes to the issue.
“I think it’s appropriate to start listening to Christmas music after Thanksgiving so I don’t get sick of it before Christmas is here,” Scharn said.
She has a point — just how many versions of “Silent Night” or “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” can cycle through the local radio station in a day?
“Sometimes the variety in versions is nice, but a lot of them are annoying because they just don’t sound good,” Scharn said.
If you choose to listen to Christmas tunes before Thanksgiving, you won’t necessarily like all the songs that get played.
Then there are others, such as sophomore Lauren Rensink, who disagree with Scharn’s way of thinking.
“I personally love Christmas music and listen to it year-round,” Rensink said. “It is simply the most wonderful time of the year, and who wouldn’t want to be reminded of that?”
Director of Academic Support Tom Truesdell has similar opinions to Scharn but is open to being flexible as to when Christmas music can be played.
“Normally, I would say wait until after Thanksgiving, but my daughter just performed a dance recital to three Christmas songs in her bedroom, so I may have to relent on the Thanksgiving rule,” Truesdell said.
Whether you like it or not, the holiday fever will soon spread through every dorm and building on campus. If you’re like Rensink, you’ll have your Christmas Pandora station playing all day. This way, she gets her preference of “a good mix” of tunes.
Campus can also look forward to the first day that Zwemer Hall plays music from the bell tower to spread the cheer.
And the ever-reliable H* Radio hosts, seniors Adam Potter and Taylor Biggs and sophomore Andrew Mulder, will provide yet another outlet of holiday music for campus.
“We will have one day of complete Christmas music,” Potter said. “We will be taking requests as always on the H* Radio Facebook page.”
