Mercer to Hold Annual Christmas Tree Lighting

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MACON – Mercer University’s Student Government Association will hold its annual Christmas Tree Lighting tonight on the University’s Historic Quad at 7 p.m.

The ceremony will include a Christmas message by Dr. Craig McMahan, university minister and dean of chapel, followed by Christmas carols led by Dr. Stanley Roberts, associate dean and professor for the Townsend School of Music, and the Mercer Singers. Dr. Gary Richardson, professor and chair of the English department, will read “The Night Before Christmas,” and Dr. Douglas Pearson, vice president for student affairs and dean of students, will light the tree.

“My favorite aspect of the event is that Mercerians get to gather together to celebrate the holidays with their peers and faculty members,” said Jordan Locke, president of the Student Government Association.

In addition to the lighting, this is the third year that the Student Government Association has held an event called Sweaters, Pears and Teddy Bears, in the weeks prior to the Christmas Tree Lighting. The event, originally created by Locke, gives Mercerians the opportunity to donate warm clothing, non-perishable food items and gently used or new toys to those in need in Middle Georgia. The donations are given to a designated charity at the ceremony. This year, a student representative from the Mercer’s Local Engagement Against Poverty initiative will be accepting and distributing donations.

About Mercer University:
Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. The University enrolls more than 8,300 students in 11 schools and colleges – liberal arts, law, pharmacy, medicine, business, engineering, education, theology, music, nursing and continuing and professional studies – on major campuses in Macon, Atlanta and Savannah and at three regional academic centers across the state. Mercer is affiliated with two teaching hospitals — Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah and the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, and has educational partnerships with Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Warner Robins and Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta. The University operates an academic press and a performing arts center in Macon and an engineering research center in Warner Robins. Mercer is the only private university in Georgia to field an NCAA Division I athletic program. For more information, visit www.mercer.edu.
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