It probably goes without saying that, what with those who think that there's currently a "war on Christmas" and those who think that public display of Nativity scenes is a kind of hate crime, Christmas is a big deal. After all, for stores, Christmas begins before Halloween, and for radio stations, it begins a little before Thanksgiving. Given all of this, the latter part of the fall semester at Fordham is rather interesting. As a Catholic institution, Fordham feels itself perfectly justified putting up wreaths, Christmas lights, and Nativity scenes on campus; like the rest of New York City, though, Fordham puts up its Christmas decorations long before December 24th, though real sticklers for the rules would probably point out that, since the church year is currently in the season of Advent, Fordham's jumping the gun a bit. Oh, well.
The picture above is of a Nativity scene on top of the Jesuit residence hall on campus. Ignoring for the moment that half of the world has Christmas in the summer, it's a great thing that Christmas is a holiday in the dead of winter. The great Christmas carol "Lo, how a Rose e'er blooming" says that Jesus was born "amid the cold of winter, / When half spent was the night." It's a very nice image, even if we, historically speaking, we have no idea at what time of the year Jesus was born, and even if the image isn't particularly relevant to people celebrating Christmas in Buenos Aires or Sydney. Christmas is, certainly, an extremely appealing holiday, evidenced by its being celebrated by many people who aren't particularly religious. (The Fordham Festival of Lessons and Carols concert this past weekend was attended by around 2,000 people, and I would guess that not all of them super-pious merrymakers. Many are likely just merrymakers.) A lot of this likely has to do with the psychological need for something to cheer us up. Christmas on campus during and leading up to finals is, I'm sure, very much appreciated.
I certainly do not know what the future of Christmas or the future of our society or the future of Catholic institutions like Fordham looks like. I think I can affirm, though, that the presence of Christmas on campus does play a key role in lifting spirits during what can be a rather dark time of year.