As the holiday season approaches, financial aid offices can leverage this time to create an environment that is inclusive, joyful, and meaningful for students and staff from diverse backgrounds in a respectful way. A well-thought-out holiday celebration can foster a stronger sense of community, while honoring cultural traditions, and emphasizing the office’s role as a welcoming and supportive space on campus. Unfortunately, in many cases, these celebrations can also become occasions for individuals of diverse cultural backgrounds to feel excluded. To that end, here are some ways financial aid offices can approach holiday celebrations with cultural competence, respect, and impact, leveraging the cheer of the season while also providing a necessary space for people to engage and connect with one another fully as they are.
1. Foster a Diverse and Inclusive Environment
- Acknowledge Multiple Holidays: Recognize that students and staff celebrate various holidays beyond Christmas, including Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Diwali, and Winter Solstice. Create space for multiple holiday symbols, colors, or greetings that honor different traditions, especially those that are represented among members of your staff and student community.
- Invite Input from the Team: Encourage staff members to share their holiday traditions, whether religious, cultural, or secular. This can help build awareness and ensure that all members of the office feel included. Similarly, connect with the student support center on campus to gauge which traditions are represented in your student campus, while fostering a sense of awareness and collaboration regarding the university-wide initiatives during the holiday.
- Decorate Inclusively: Decorate shared spaces in the office with general seasonal elements, such as winter imagery, rather than symbols tied to one specific holiday. This approach creates a warm atmosphere without unintentionally favoring one tradition. Similarly, encourage each staff member to decorate their own individual spaces in a way that enables them to authentically experience their own traditions and beliefs in a respectful and appropriate manner.
2. Organize Culturally Sensitive Celebrations
- Host an International Holiday Fair: Invite students and staff to share cultural customs, foods, and traditional activities from their communities. This can be a fun, informative, and respectful way to learn about different holidays, build intercultural appreciation, and enjoy festive foods.
- Create an Open Forum for Discussion: Include a holiday cultural awareness discussion during your weekly meeting leading up to the holidays, where staff and student workers can talk about what their holidays mean to them and explore how cultural backgrounds influence celebrations. This can deepen understanding and foster compassion and curiosity among attendees. Make sure to lead the conversation and maintain a civil tone, approaching the topic from a framework of curiosity seeking understanding.
3. Focus on Service and Giving Back
- Encourage Volunteerism: Financial aid offices are well-positioned to connect students and staff with local volunteer opportunities, from serving at food banks to helping with toy or coat drives. Create a resource board listing opportunities for students and staff to give back in a way that aligns with their values. These acts of service and kindness oftentimes work to bring people together, especially those of different backgrounds, in a shared purpose to meet a common goal.
- Organize a “Season of Giving” Drive: Partner with other campus departments to collect non-perishable foods, winter clothing, and other essentials for local charities. Consider a friendly competition between departments to maximize donations and create a sense of community.
4. Use Neutral and Inclusive Language
- Opt for Neutral Greetings in General Communications: Avoid phrases that imply a specific religious or cultural affiliation, such as “Merry Christmas” in communications that are set for a broad community of individuals. Instead, opt for neutral expressions like “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings,” which encompass a wide range of holiday traditions.
- Respect Language Preferences: For individual communications, recognize that some may prefer holiday greetings that align with their faith or culture. Be respectful and allow for personalized greetings on holiday cards or email signatures without assuming everyone celebrates in the same way. Encourage and explain to members of staff that when someone shares a specific preference, they should respect their communicated preference, finding ways to celebrate and share in the joy that different traditions offer.
5. Celebrate Through Education
- Offer Holiday Awareness Materials: Provide materials or infographics that explain the history and traditions of various holidays celebrated during the season. This could be done through digital displays, bulletin boards, or email newsletters. Encourage staff feedback in the creation of these materials, especially from those who have a unique level of expertise celebrating a specific holiday or tradition.
- Highlight the Financial Aid Office’s Year-Round Supports: Use this time to remind staff and students of available resources, including emergency funds or special considerations for those facing financial hardships. Position the office as a year-round support system, ready to help students through tough financial situations as they manage end-of-year expenses and holiday travel.
6. Create a Space for Reflection and Relaxation
- Offer Recovery Spaces: For students who might not have the means or opportunity to travel home, consider offering a quiet, cozy space in the office for relaxation or reflective activities. This could be a room with comfortable seating, hot beverages, and soft lighting. Similarly, use flexible scheduling to allow staff to leverage times in the office when the demand might be lower, to come early and leave early, or find other ways to give time back to individuals so that they can recover and recharge in preparation for the busier cycles that are to come.
- Organize Stress-Relief Activities: Offer a few low-stress activities, such as holiday card making or ornament decorating, to help students and staff destress while stying engaged. Consider offering these on a voluntary basis to respect students’ preferences and avoid assumptions about participation. Similarly, for shared activities, encourage coloring or decorating seasonal elements that are commonly shared across cultural backgrounds.
7. Gather Feedback for Future Celebrations
- Solicit Feedback from Staff and Students: Throughout and after the holiday season, seek feedback from both students and staff about what they appreciated and what could be improved. Their insights can guide planning for future culturally competent celebrations and ensure that evolving needs and perspectives are consistently recognized.
In the end, it is worthwhile to note that the goal of engaging in these activities is to bring people together while leveraging the natural cheer of the season in a way that helps foster bonds of care within your office environment. Thoughtful holiday celebrations within financial aid offices can create a welcoming atmosphere that celebrates diversity and unity, while fostering strong ties with students and staff. By using inclusive language, respecting diverse traditions, encouraging service, and prioritizing support, financial aid offices can make a positive impact on their communities while reinforcing their commitment to support, both students and staff across the institution. From everyone at HEAG, we wish you all a merry and cheerful holiday season!