Thanksgiving feast for students in EOP

Thanksgiving came a bit early this year for more than 60 students.

For the second year in a row, Special Programs Assistant Doneilous King organized a  Thanksgiving dinner for students in SUNYIT’s Educational Opportunity Program (EOP). With help from his friends and family, King cooked and served up a veritable feast of comfort foods that included jerk chicken, fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, yellow rice and beans, corn bread, yams, string beans, potatoes, sweet corn and even banana pudding for dessert.

“The reaction was just overwhelming gratitude from the students,” King said. “They said things like it tasted just like their mother’s cooking, and that for an hour or two they felt like they were back home.”

EOP, a grant-funded initiative that focuses on access and equity, is designed to seek out and support educationally underprepared and talented students and to provide them with tutorial services, counseling, advisement and financial assistance. The November 15 Thanksgiving meal in Oriskany Residence Hall came about through King’s conversations with EOP students, many of whom were asking for cultural programs—specifically for some of the foods that they grew up eating.

In addition to the feast, there were slideshows and recognition awards. King says that at its core, the annual event is about being thankful for each other and being a part of a community on the SUNYIT campus.

“The students are proud of who they are, their background, their culture and it is important to keep those things intact,” King said. “Something like the food served, it gives you a reminder of home, solidarity as a group and that you’re with your family here at SUNYIT.”