West Liberty University President Opens Home to Students Staying on Campus for Thanksgiving

Emma Delk

West Liberty University President Tim Borchers' dining room table is going to be crowded this Thanksgiving, as students staying on campus for the holiday are invited to a feast at his house.

Busting out their fine china for the 17 Hilltoppers spending Thanksgiving at their home, Borchers and his wife, Suzanne Williams, are thrilled to finally execute the holiday meal they have been anticipating since they got on campus.

"Having students over for Thanksgiving is something we've wanted to do for a long time," said Borchers. "We've been brainstorming what we want to serve for the past month."

While this is their first time hosting students for the holiday, the couple is more than ready to serve the group. Since they got married in 1996, they have cooked for guests every year during the holiday.

"At our very first Thanksgiving after we got married, we invited my whole family over, so we had over 22 people in our tiny house," described Borchers. "It was fun but a little stressful."

Now equipped with much more space and cooking experience on campus, the couple spent all of Wednesday preparing food for their feast to be ready for the holiday.

While whipping up the batter of a gingerbread loaf, Williams detailed the menu the couple came up with for the event. Plenty of Thanksgiving staples will be served, including two turkeys, cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes, which are "the best part," in her opinion.

"We kept it in mind to have enough dishes that those who don't eat meat have something to choose from, too," she added. "There were a couple of menu items that I wanted to make that might be just a little too much to try to pull off tomorrow, but I want to give them a try."

Throughout the fall semester, Borchers and Williams have enjoyed hosting students and faculty at their house. Most recently treating the Black Student Union to barbeque, they ended up sitting at their table with the group for two-and-a-half hours, laughing and talking.

"The students would ask us questions like 'Where did you meet?'" said Borchers. "We got to share some of those things that we'd never talk to them about if we were in a meeting with them or just seeing them on the street.

"After events like this, when we come across students we've hosted on campus, they know who we are and feel comfortable to come up and talk to us."

The Thanksgiving gathering will primarily consist of international students and student-athletes who live farther from home. Borchers noted students working on Black Friday who "don't want to miss out on those holiday hours" will also be stopping by.

"I think having these students over helps them feel like they're not left out of things, especially when separated from their families over the holidays," said Borchers. "When the campus is closed down, and it's quiet, I just want them to have a place that they feel comfortable."

One international student taking a seat at the Borchers' table is Janina Kruppke, a German student who is excited to experience the American tradition for the first time. While she participated in a "Friendsgiving" earlier this week, where she got to sample some of the holiday's typical foods, she described never having "the full Thanksgiving experience."

"What I'm most excited for is the turkey because it's such a critical thing for the meal, and I've never had it before," said Kurppke on what dish she is looking forward to the most. "I usually just eat chicken or something like that at home, so Turkey is always such an American thing in my mind."

Being separated from her family in Germany over the holiday, Kruppke also looks forward to enjoying a meal in a family atmosphere. To her, the event will be like having a host family for the day.

"Most international students can't go somewhere else over break, and I would just be staying on campus alone," explained Kruppke. "It's a really nice opportunity to join the president and his wife in a family-like atmosphere since it's just a small group of students."

Joking that the Thanksgiving dinner is part of their "student-retention-through-food strategy," Borchers believes that sharing a meal with the students helps give them a sense of belonging at the school.

"If a student would ever get into trouble academically or don't know where to turn financially, I wouldn't be surprised if they came to my office and said 'I'm having this problem. How can you help me with it?'" explained Borchers. "We just want to open that door to dialogue and problem-solving if they need it."