Celebrating the Holiday Season at Iona
New Rochelle, N.Y. - Each year, thanks to the hard work of Iona’s Facilities Department, Iona’s campus is transformed into a winter wonderland, decked out with all the trimmings as the University community comes together to celebrate the holiday season. This year, the kickoff to the holiday season started on November 25, with the campus tree lighting on Murphy Green. This event welcomed community members from across Iona’s campus and incorporated student and faculty speakers, readers and music from the Iona Singers. Following the lighting of the tree, attendees joined in a Gael Gate before the men’s basketball game.
Continuing the holiday celebrations, on December 5 the annual Lighting of the Crèche took place and celebrated the start of the Advent Season. The Lighting of the Crèche included music from Iona’s Music Ministry, Christmas readings from students and staff, a reflection from SGA Executive Vice President, Lazar Paroški, and a prayer and Blessing of the Crèche by Father Gerard. Following the Lighting of the Crèche, the Student Leader Alliance for Multiculturalism (SLAM) hosted their annual Home for the Holidays Gael event, bringing students together to learn about and celebrate diverse traditions and cuisines of the holiday season from around the world.
On December 6, Mission & Ministry collaborated with the Performing Arts Department and the Sigma Delta Phi fraternity to host the 2025 Lessons and Carols event. This event welcomed guests from Iona and the local community to the Arrigoni Center for a candle-lit, ecumenical service that combined music and scripture readings of the Advent Season. Student performers from Iona’s Music Ministry, Vocal Ensemble, Singers, and NightinGAELS, as well as a trio of Father Vaughn Fayle, Dr. Edward Hardy, and Iona student Marcus Fakhoury ’26, all performed and sang at the event. In conjunction with the concert, the Sigma Delta Phi fraternity organized a toy drive to benefit HOPE Community Services- collecting more than 150 toys for children in need in New Rochelle. During the event, Ray Kerins, ’92 spoke on how Sigma Delta Phi members carry on Iona’s legacy of community service, and HOPE Community Service’s Director of Government & Community Engagement, Lisa Burton, spoke on the impact of the toy drive and the long-standing partnership between HOPE and Iona.
ABOUT IONA
Founded in 1940, Iona University is a master's-granting private, Catholic, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers. Iona's 45-acre New Rochelle campus and 28-acre Bronxville campus are just 20 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. With a total enrollment of nearly 4,000 students and an alumni base of more than 50,000 around the world, Iona is a diverse community of learners and scholars dedicated to academic excellence and the values of justice, peace and service. Iona is highly accredited, offering undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, science and business administration, as well as Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees and numerous advanced certificate programs. Iona students enjoy small class sizes, engaged professors and a wide array of academic programs across the School of Arts & Science; LaPenta School of Business; NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences; and Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Iona also continues to be recognized in prestigious national rankings. Most recently for 2025, Iona has been named one of the nation’s best colleges by The Princeton Review, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and others. Additionally, U.S. News & World Report recognized Iona as one of top for social mobility in the country, while Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) ranked an Iona degree in the top 5 percent nationally for long-term return on investment. Iona’s LaPenta School of Business, meanwhile, is also accredited by AACSB International, a recognition awarded to just 6 percent of business schools worldwide. In addition, The Princeton Review recognized Iona’s on-campus MBA program as a “Best Business School for 2024.” Iona also offers a fully online MBA program for even greater flexibility. In July 2021, Iona announced the establishment of the NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences, which is now principally located on Iona’s Bronxville campus in collaboration with one of the nation’s top hospitals. Connecting to its Irish heritage, Iona also opened a new campus in County Mayo, Ireland, located on the historic 400-acre Westport House Estate. A school on the rise, Iona officially changed its status from College to University on July 1, 2022, reflecting the growth of its academic programs and the prestige of an Iona education.