Students will have a chance to celebrate the holidays with their classmates on Monday at the first-ever Wildcat Winter mix-and-mingle.

Allen Womble, the Arizona Student Unions’ student engagement coordinator, Melissa Carreno, the Arizona Student Union’s student engagement marketing assistant and Shan Harris, North Plaza programming assistant, came up with the idea of Wildcat Winter to give students the chance to enjoy time together before winter break.

The evening will feature a chorus group singing Christmas carols and free food. There will be holiday desserts including snowflake cookies, hot chocolate and hot cider, Womble said.

Harris added that they will light a 10-foot wreath, rather than a tree, to stay neutral about practices associated with various religious holidays.

“It’s supposed to be a fun send-away,” said Harris, a business senior. “Essentially it’s free food, music and fun.”

Wilbur and Wilma may even come to take pictures with attendees, Carreno said.

The team added that the goal is to get students engaged on campus with fun activities to help them get into the holiday spirit.

Carreno said the event will give students a chance to take a break from finals and have some fun. The goal, she added, is to make Wildcat Winter a regular event.

“We’re trying to make this a new tradition,” Carreno said. “We’re trying to get students more involved in the [Arizona] Student Unions and their university.”

Because students head back to their homes by mid-December, Womble said he wants them to have a chance to reconnect with the UA community before they go.

“We all celebrate different holidays,” Womble said, “but being a community is really a connecting thread between all the holidays.”

The event won’t include speeches or presentations of any kind because the team wants it to just be a social opportunity for students. Harris said he hopes everyone will come and celebrate together.

There will also be a raffle for students for an iPad Mini.
Womble said he hopes the students enjoy the engagement with the Arizona Student Unions and enjoy each other’s company.

“We wanted to give the students of UA the chance to come together,” Womble said, “because being a part of a university really is being a part of a family.”