A festive group of 70 faculty and staff donned fun seasonal attire and some showy holiday headgear to serve students a memorable holiday meal and decadent desserts. The big event transformed the North Haven Campus dining hall into a holiday venue with music, decorations and a celebratory glass of wine for 21-and-over graduate students.

Director of Graduate Affairs Stefano Fasulo said the Office of Graduate Student Affairs partners with graduate school programs to ensure students across all disciplines receive an invitation to enjoy this annual tradition. The event was instituted about 12 years ago by Betsey Smith, retired senior associate dean of the School of Health Sciences, and Gina Frank, dean of graduate student affairs.

“I love the way that this dinner brings everyone together so that the faculty, staff and students get to mingle,” Fasulo said. “You’ll see faculty and staff at the tables, relaxing with students and discussing things that are not necessarily just within the four walls of their academic classroom. It’s a very collegial vibe. It’s just great.”

Amy Madrawski JD ’25 said she encouraged a big group of her third-year law school peers to attend the holiday dinner.

“There are seven of us and we’ve all been friends since our 1L year,” said Madrawski. “This is my third time coming to the holiday dinner, and I actually had to convince everyone to make some time before finals to come tonight. They all surprised me by coming right after my class. I think it’s a great way to take a break from studying, and it’s so fun to see our professors and interact with them outside of the classroom environment.”

Professor of medical sciences Tom Martin has volunteered to help at every holiday dinner since the program began.

“It’s my favorite event of the year. It’s a chance for us to give back to the students, and they really appreciate it. It’s a nice community-builder and it brings all the schools together,” said Martin.

Chair of Biomedical Sciences and Program Director of Pathologist Assistant Studies Robert Cottrell credited Martin with encouraging him to sign on as a volunteer nearly 10 years ago.
“Just by walking around, bussing tables, cleaning up and serving, you get to meet the students, and you get to see your own students,” Cottrell said. “Everyone’s happy and everyone takes a moment to decompress. You’re smiling, you’re laughing, you’re meeting with other faculty. It’s a wonderful experience.”

Biomedical science graduate student Natalie Grober MHS ’26 said she was enjoying the experience.

“I’m a first-year grad student so this is my first time at this event and it’s really nice. It’s a great way to end the semester,” Grober said. “I get very close with a lot of people that are in my cohort, but it’s nice to meet other people, and to see everybody involved in the different programs Quinnipiac has to offer. Seeing the faculty volunteering their time is really cool, too.”

Joining Grober at the holiday table was a new colleague, James Jaramillo MD '27, who was back to enjoy the holiday dinner for a second year. Jaramillo said he rallied his entire class to join him for the event this year.

“The biomedical sciences and medical students share a class, and I convinced all of them to come. I think it’s really cool that the faculty are serving the food and that they’re here with us, and they’re all so festive,” said Jaramillo.

He said the volunteer work of the faculty and staff is much appreciated by the students.

“It reminds me of when I was in the Army at the holidays, because the commanders and sergeant-majors would serve the food to all the soldiers, and that was pretty special,” Jaramillo said.

For first-year physician assistant graduate student Jamie Toole ‘24 MHS ’26, the holiday dinner was another memorable moment in her Quinnipiac experience.

“It’s exciting because I got to see some of my professors from undergrad, too, so it’s been nice to catch up,” said Toole. “I went to the undergrad holiday dinners, which were really fun; but I feel like we’re getting a chance to talk to our professors a bit more here.”

Denise Celestin MSW ’25 arrived with two friends from her cohort to enjoy the holiday dinner. Celestin said it was a great way to help celebrate the completion of her first semester in the Social Work Advanced Standing Program.

“It’s really fun. I think it’s a good experience to meet different people and talk to different professors,” Celestin said.

Aalysia Herring MSW ’25 said the event felt special because it brought together students from many disciplines.

“This is really nice because in graduate school, everybody’s very much in and out – we’re here for our studies, we’re going to our internships, and we don’t really get to interact as much,” Herring said.

That’s one of the reasons associate teaching professor of education Cindy Kern brought her entire Advanced Methods for Secondary Educators class with her to the holiday dinner.

“We all agreed we’d go to class for an hour and then we would end the semester and come party with everybody and get something great to eat,” said Kern, who joined the serving line. “There’s not a lot of time where the adult graduate students get to have community and get to share space, so this is an opportunity you can’t pass up.”

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