As Thanksgiving rolls around, students take a break from schoolwork to head home for delicious food and quality time with loved ones. But for students who can’t make it home for the holiday, Thanksgiving comes with an additional delight: Dean Callahan.
For the past five years, Christopher Callahan, dean of the Walter Cronkite School and vice provost for the Downtown campus, has hosted a family-style Thanksgiving dinner for students stranded over the holiday.
“The notion of one of our students spending Thanksgiving alone, it just didn’t sit right,” Callahan said.
As the Cronkite School continues to grow, Callahan said it is unlikely that there will ever be too many students to stop hosting the dinner. The issue is not space, but how many turkeys the dean can make in one day.
“It really comes, I think, from a concern,” Associate Dean Kristin Gilger said. “We don’t want people stuck in an apartment by themselves.”
Gilger throws a similar Thanksgiving dinner for faculty, Humphrey fellows and recent alums. Callahan said there was once talk of combining the two.
“That might be too much to have in one house,” Callahan said.
Gilger’s dinner is an international affair with attendees from China, Eastern Europe and Africa, many experiencing their first Thanksgiving, she said. For some, this includes the first taste of cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, stuffing and the Gilger family Thanksgiving special, Jell-O.
Callahan said he started his dinners for out-of-state freshmen without a place to go for Thanksgiving. However, everyone is welcome regardless of his or her year or campus. Callahan’s son Cody, a junior at the W.P. Carey School of Business, will bring friends from the Tempe campus.
Every year, students travel by bus to Callahan’s house. People spend a casual Thanksgiving chatting, playing basketball and watching football, Callahan said.
Last Thanksgiving, the Callahans cooked three turkeys — with a competitive twist. Callahan’s wife, Jeanmarie or “Jean,” cooked the classic turkey, or the “boring” turkey as the dean described it. Callahan deep-fried turkeys, which he insisted were moist and juicy.
“It’s kind of dangerous,” he said as he described and acted out deep-frying a turkey. “You have to do it outside, it’s splashing all over the place.”
After the students ate, Callahan polled the group to find out which turkey tasted better. Jean’s won.
This year Callahan will also be smoking a turkey along with deep-frying another. It is too soon to tell how the smoked turkey will stand up to Jean’s reining champion, the traditional turkey.
Journalism senior Jacob Wipf attended the dinner his freshman year. Wipf said he especially enjoyed a dish with nuts and marshmallows.
“Even at my family’s Thanksgiving I have never had anything that good,” Wipf said.
The Callahans lack a table big enough for everyone. Instead people scatter among the dining room, living room, kitchen and backyard.
“Even though it was just with a bunch of kids, it still felt like a family Thanksgiving atmosphere,” Wipf said.
The first year started small with only three to four students. The number fluctuates each year, reaching 14 students at one point, Callahan said.
Callahan said he didn’t know how many are attending this year, but he expected a lot.
The dean said he likes getting to know the students on a personal level. Last year, Jean attended two of the original Thanksgiving dinner attendees’ graduation parties, Callahan said.
Wipf said it was fun to talk about school and family with the dean in a casual setting.
Journalism freshman Kevin Moskowitz said he will attend Callahan’s Thanksgiving. He said his family is in the middle of moving from Detroit to Houston so he won’t be able to visit them.
“My family has never really been into the Thanksgiving thing,” Moskowitz said.
He is, however, excited to meet the dean on an individual level.
Before starting the dinners, Callahan said his family missed big Thanksgivings back East with their extended family.
“Selfishly, we actually missed having a lot of people around,” Callahan said.
The dean said his wife and two sons, Cody and Casey, a sophomore in high school, were all for the dinner.
Callahan said Jean’s response was, “’Great! Have them all over. Have a big party.’”
Contact the reporter at danika.worthington@asu.edu
