Hillsdale was hopping with Easter celebrations last Sunday.
Every year, many students stay in Hillsdale for Easter, attending church services and various festivities on- and off-campus.
“Nobody knows how to celebrate Easter like college students,” junior Clare Oldenburg said.
Oldenburg said this was her first Easter in Hillsdale, and she attended the Easter Vigil mass at the St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church and its annual Greek feast afterward.
“I just loved how everyone came together,” Oldenburg said. “It was fun to see the professors enjoying themselves and my friends getting to experience the Easter Vigil and Greek feast. It’s just a blast.”
Oldenburg also attended a cereal party, bonfire, and lamb roast throughout Easter Sunday.
“My favorite part of Easter was engaging in the hospitality, with my friends opening their houses to others,” she said. “It was really beautiful.”
Senior Reilly DeMara held her fourth and final Easter dinner in Hillsdale at her off-campus house, Backstage. DeMara said she started the tradition her freshman year for students who couldn’t go home during COVID, and she’s been hosting Easter parties ever since.
“I just wanted it to be a relaxing time to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord,” DeMara said. “I’m just so grateful for my Hillsdale family and for the opportunity to welcome everyone into my home.”
Junior Ellen Nave said Hillsdale students understand the importance of Christ’s Incarnation, death, and Resurrection and celebrate accordingly.
“People at Hillsdale give Easter the solemn reverence it deserves and also the excitement and incredible atmosphere that comes along with that,” Nave said. “Everyone’s so busy, but the opportunity to rest and be intentionally present with everybody was so beautiful.”
Sophomore Emily Schutte said eating and playing games with her friends reminded her of home.
“That’s what we do in my family, so it was special to have a taste of that at school since I was away from home,” Schutte said. “Easter is the pinnacle celebration of the church year, and I just love to see everybody pull together in celebrating.”
Senior Lucas Joyce said he encourages all students to spend at least one Easter in Hillsdale to experience the church services and community.
“I’m from a city where I recognize a lot of people celebrate Easter, but not all,” Joyce said. “It was really something to have basically everyone in town celebrating Easter.”
Oldenburg said people should go all out in their Easter celebrations.
“This is the biggest holiday for Christians,” she said. “Christ did not rise from the dead so we could be sour-faced and boring all the time.”
