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Texas Tech University will host the 51st annual Carol of Lights celebration “Lighting the Path for Tomorrow.” The carillon concert will start at 6:30 p.m. with the outdoor ceremony starting at 7 p.m. Dec. 2, at Memorial Circle.
During the event, more than 25,000 red, white and orange lights will illuminate 13 buildings surrounding Memorial Circle, the Engineering Key and the Broadway entrance. About 20,000 Tech students and local residents attend the annual event, which is sponsored by the Texas Tech Residence Halls Association. As one of Texas Tech’s oldest traditions, the event has also been embraced by the Lubbock community.
The traditional carillon concert begins at 6:30 p.m. in the science quadrangle followed by the Masked Rider leading in the Saddle Tramps and High Riders in the Saddle Tramps Torch Light Processional.
Also, find out What It Feels Like…To String 25,000 Holiday Lights and read about the history behind the celebration in 50 Years of Shining Bright.
December 2nd, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Why was this moved to Wednesday!?!?!?!?!
first there is Church on Wednesday night…and then the kiddos go to bed early as it is a school night…
and IF a Family wishes to go out afterwards and eat, it will LATE…
seems like a bad judgment call to me, and will exclude the general public, for a wonderful tradition…
December 3rd, 2009 at 9:34 am
WHY WEDNESDAY NIGHT?????????????????? Very bad judgement call!!!!!!! Are you trying shut out the general public? This is the event we plan for two years in advance! Our family and friends come from out of town and state to visit Tech and enjoy a great Christmas tradition. This year our family and friends will be here Friday anticipating a joyous tradition and will be very dissapointed that the experience was taken away! Very poor choice on your part unless your goal is to close outr the very community that supports you.
This is not just a student event. This is an experience your alumni and Tech supporters bring their families to for years after they leave Tech! It is not easy to take your whole family out of work and school to fly here in the middle of the week. Put it back on Friday and stop messing with tradition!!!!!
December 3rd, 2009 at 2:56 pm
I remember participating in this event when I was at Tech and lived in Doak Hall, but I haven’t been to Carol of Lights in years because it’s on a week night. Please move it to a Fri. or Sat. night so that more folks can attend. It is such a wonderful Tech tradition and it’s one for all ages where you don’t have to worry about being acosted by intoxicated persons or party animals. It’s just good, plain fun.
December 3rd, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Why did you move it to WED NIGHT??? I was hoping to come see the Carol of Lights this year. I haven’t been able to get back to Lubbock for this wonderful tradition since I left Tech in 1991. I was soooo disappointed when I checked this morning 12/3/09 and found out that I had already MISSED IT!!
Please put it back on Frid night like it also was! Lots of Texas Tech alums like to go to it and now we can’t.
Why don’t you set up a live web broadcast of the Carol of Lights festivities? I noticed that you had a live broadcast of the choir concert afterwards.
December 3rd, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Why was the Annual Carol of Lights on a WEDNESDAY instead of the traditional FRIDAY?
As an alumni living in Fort Worth, TX I am required to make arrangements to travel to Lubbock, TX. I am quite disappointed in this decision and would like to know the reason for this change. Please don’t give me the reason that it’s because of the Champrionships. How did it work out before?
The Carol of Lights has been a tradition for 51 years and I was under the impression that not only was it for current students but also for former graduates and families as well. As an educator, teaching traditions means instilling pride and honor to my primary students as it was in me at Texas Tech University and engraved in my Graduation Ring. STRIVE FOR HONOR. How can we carry that HONOR when our traditions are taken away from us, in my case?
My recommendation would be to continue to keep it on Friday and maybe move it up or down a week. PLEASE don’t take it away fome us! Alumni are important to.
December 3rd, 2009 at 11:36 pm
This was sent in an e-mail to me as a response. If the carol of lights is geared only as a student event and I am simply an extended invitation then I guess you don’t need alumni support then. Does Alumni Association support not give us a “direct” invitation? Just “extended”
Hi Claudia,
Thank you for your email concerning the date for this year’s Carol of Lights celebration. I am sorry that you weren’t able to join us for this year’s event.
The decision to schedule Carol of Lights for Wednesday occurred for several reasons. First, the Friday date presented a conflict with the Big 12 Championship football game weekend. After Tech’s very successful season last year, we realized that should Tech perform well enough to reach the championship game, the Carol of Lights event would be left without a large number of individuals critical to the events success. This loss would include many of the Saddle Tramps and High Riders that may travel with the team, the members of the trombone choir and vocal chorus that are in the Goin’ Band, as well as Raider Red and the Masked Rider. The loss of those individuals would make Carol of Lights not possible.
The Friday date that you are accustomed to, also presented conflicts with the Big 12 Conference Presidents meeting and leave a potential to present future conflicts with finals week for our students. By moving the day from Friday to Wednesday, we eliminate each of those conflicts.
As a campus tradition coordinated by a student organization, Carol of Lights is an event targeted at current Texas Tech students. Of course, we gladly extend an invitation to any alumni and members of the community that may wish to attend. The decision was in no way meant to exclude you from this event. We agree, alumni are very important.
While this is not the first time that Carol of Lights was held on a date other than Friday, it is a change from most recent years. As can be expected, a number of individuals have shared both pros and cons for the date chosen this year. I will gladly record your recommendation and share that with the Carol of Lights committee when it comes time to reevaluate the date. Carol of Lights is currently scheduled to be held on Wednesday, December 1, 2010 and on Wednesday, November 30, 2011. The day will again be discussed for the 2012 Carol of Lights.
Thank you again for your email. If I can address any further questions about this event, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Best wishes to you this holiday season,
Craig Kuehnert, M.S.
Residence Life Coordinator for Student Development
December 4th, 2009 at 7:50 am
I was also disappointed Carol of Lights was moved to Wednesday this year. This has become an annual tradition for my family. We live out of town so were not able to attend since it was in the middle of the week. Please consider moving it back to Friday night. This is a wonderful tradition that the general public and alumni enjoy alongside current students and faculty.
December 7th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
I can not express my disappointment and distress in the decision to change the tradition of having Carol of Lights on the first Friday of December. I have been telling my children about Carol of Lights since they were small. We planned for two years that we would travel from Conroe to participate in this great event that I loved as a student and had hoped to pass on to my children. It was also to be an opportunity for my eldest to see the campus and hopefully discover all the things I loved while I was at Tech. Unfortunately, she discovered disappointment. I hope you will reconsider this change for future Carol of Lights events.
December 7th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Don’t blame Craig from Residence Life- the folks at RHA had no control over this. The BS about the Big 12 championship game was what they were told. Funny- we had a better shot at the Big 12 title last year and this wasn’t an issue then.
And yes, the change to Wednesday is appearing to be a permanent one. The CoL planning meeting folks were told that the first Wednesday in December was the new schedule for the next 3 years, maybe more.
The fact that CoL 2009 conflicted with a Lady Raider’s Game was also not considered. It was pointed out that most of TTU PD would be working that game and outside law-enforcement would have to be hired to work security for the CoL.
Make no mistake, the move to Wednesdays was made by the administration, and only for reasons truly known to them. The reasons given for the move thus far have made absolutely no sense, while the reasons stated BY EVERYONE ELSE for holding it on Friday were ALWAYS the same reasons why it was never moved before.
It’s not rocket surgery, but it is yet ANOTHER example of how TTU is “changin for the better”.
CoL on the first Friday in December? From Here It’s Not Possible.®