In a typical year, the University of Dayton welcomes more than 1,000 Dayton Public Schools children to watch a tree lighting, jump on Santa’s lap for photos and sip free hot chocolate while admiring reindeer during the annual Christmas on Campus celebration.

This year, however, it will be a Christmas off campus. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, UD undergraduates are planning to deliver the holiday cheer to DPS kids with take-home craft bags and a children’s book written specifically for their experience this year, illustrated by first and second graders.

“Christmas on Campus is such a special tradition to the University of Dayton going back to 1963 that we had to find a way to still give it to local kids this year,” said co-coordinator Dana Roscoe, a senior from Naperville, Illinois. “Like the little girl in our children’s book, we hope the children will appreciate the true meaning of Christmas: that it’s not what you get or what you do, it’s about keeping the joy and spirit alive with friends and family.”

The planning committee also is collecting gifts for patients at Dayton Children's Hospital through the Center for Student Involvement, at CSI-COC 300 College Park Dayton, OH 45469-0620.

Christmas on Campus is believed to be one of the nation’s largest single-day, on-campus community service events with nearly three-quarters of the undergraduate student body involved in some way.