On the 28th of November, the 6th Annual Thanksgiving Celebration took place at PKU Shenzhen's Moot Court, hosted by the Chancellor’s Secretariat Office, the International Association, the English association, and the CA program --with support from the HSBC Business School and the School of Transnational Law.
This event was the occasion for students from different backgrounds to come together and celebrate one of the most renowned festivities in the United States. As people entered, they wrote what they were thankful for and placed their cards on the trees for a raffle. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, donations were collected for the Ebola relief efforts of “Médecins Sans Frontières” (also known as Doctors without Borders) in West Africa.
Many events took place that night and the first one was the speech given by Michael Greco, a visiting professor at the School of Transnational Law, former President of American Bar Association, and partner at K&L Gates LLP. He talked about the origin and history of Thanksgiving in the United States.
He said that Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has been celebrated as a federal holiday every year since 1863, when, during the Civil War, President Lincoln proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father in the Heavens." He concluded by saying that as a public holiday in the U.S., Thanksgiving is one of the major holidays of the year. Together with Christmas and New Year, Thanksgiving is a part of the broader holiday season.
Later on that night, a very delicious buffet dinner from Frankie’s and desserts by Baeckerei Thomas were offered to the guests. The selection included 9 turkeys with stuffing and many other traditional Thanksgiving side dishes. Right after dinner, a karaoke session took place, where students and faculty came together to sing their favorite songs.
A big thank you to all the people involved in making the 6th Annual Thanksgiving a success. Special thanks to the Chancellor’s Secretariat Office, International Association, English Association, the CA Program, PHBS, and STL.
Written by Hicham Lefnaoui
Edited by Megan Mancenido
