Iona College Ushers in the Holidays with Lighting of the Crèche and Christmas Tree
Joined in song and united by the spirit of the holidays, over 100 students, faculty and staff came together for the lighting of the Crèche and Christmas tree, followed by a festive dinner celebrating holiday traditions from around the world.
Over 100 students, faculty and staff recently came together for the lighting of the Crèche and Christmas tree at Iona College.
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – Joined in song and united by the spirit of the holidays, over 100 students, faculty and staff recently came together for the lighting of the Crèche and Christmas tree at Iona College, followed by a festive dinner celebrating holiday traditions from around the world.
For the Iona College community, the annual event is a joyous occasion to connect with peers, learn more about different faiths, and enjoy a variety of student performances while sharing a delicious meal. Santa himself even stopped by!
Hannah McGowan ’20, president of the Iona College Student Government Association, said the Home for the Holidays event encourages students to learn about different cultures while relaxing and bonding as a student body.
“Home for the Holidays is a great way for the Iona community to come together, share a meal, celebrate all the holidays that happen in winter, and get to learn more about each other's cultures,” she said. “At the start of finals week, it’s nice to remember that this time is supposed to be very happy and to de-stress before we walk into finals.”
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 is widely recognized in prestigious rankings, including The Princeton Review’s 2025 national list of “The Best 390 Colleges” and The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse’s “2024 Best Colleges in America,” which ranked Iona at #66 in the nation overall and #8 in the nation among Catholic schools. Iona’s LaPenta School of Business is also accredited by AACSB International, a recognition awarded to just six percent of business schools worldwide. In addition, The Princeton Review recognized Iona’s on-campus MBA program as a “Best Business School for 2023.” 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 NewYork-Presbyterian. Connecting to its Irish heritage, the University also recently announced it is expanding abroad with a new campus in County Mayo, Ireland. 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.