- Moravian University marked its eighth annual 'Heritage Day'
- On Heritage Day, instead of going to classes, students, faculty, and staff collaborate on various community projects
- The origins of the day trace back to the origins of the school's Moravian roots
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Moravian University on Wednesday observed its eighth annual Heritage Day — when students are excused from classes to help out with projects that benefit local charities and community organizations.
The day is not really about promoting the school, organizers say, but honoring Moravian historical roots, and a tradition of service to the community.
"If I could boil it down to one word, it's 'community,'" said Kristina Scesa, Moravian University's director of Civic Engagement.
"It's about honoring, and acknowledging those that came along before us and their contributions to our community. It's about celebrating everybody who's here today that makes up our community at Moravian. Now, where they come from, what their story is, and being able to celebrate that story," Scesa said.
The school is 283 years old this year, though the Heritage Day tradition is only eight.
Logistics
In the morning on Heritage Day, students boarded yellow school buses while the Moravian marching band played some unexpected old-school hits — such as "Black Dog" by Led Zeppelin, and "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith.
Those buses then took students to their designated stations, on-campus and beyond.
On-campus activities included making candles for a holiday tradition known as "Vespers,"painting coffee mugs for the Eastern PA Down Syndrome Center,and building wooden outdoor furniture for Habitat for Humanity.
The students appeared to enjoy the day. On a day when they're excused from classes, and theoretically, could be doing anything — they choose to go out and perform community work.
Stations
The full list of "community service stations":
- American Cancer Society
- Bethlehem Public Library
- Boys & Girls Club of Bethlehem
- Celtic Fest
- Community Bike Works
- Cops N Kids
- D&L Trail
- Eastern PA Down Syndrome Center
- Essentials Café & Garden
- Feed the Children
- Habitat for Humanity
- Lehigh County Humane Society
- Lehigh Valley Trash Pact
- Meals on Wheels
- Monocacy Creek
- Monocacy Watershed Association
- New Bethany Ministries
- Red Cross
- Second Harvest Food Bank
- Thomas Jefferson Elementary School
- Turning Point of the Lehigh Valley
- Valley Youth House
- Vespers
- Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley
- William Penn Elementary School
- YMCA Allentown
The Heritage Day tradition paused in 2020 because of to the COVID-19 pandemic, but throughout the past eight years, it has consistently drawn more than a thousand Moravian University community members to participate each year.
