For international and out-of-state students, the cost of transportation makes going home for a few days inconvenient.

“This is my second year not being home for Thanksgiving, it’s hard to be from out of state, especially during the holidays,” education sophomore and Florida native Adriana Carranza said.

Many students not returning home plan to spend Thanksgiving with friends. French international student and international relations junior Martin Lavielle is traveling to Chicago to visit a high school classmate, who is also studying in America. 

“He is living with a bunch of other international students and Americans, we are going to have a big Thanksgiving dinner,” Lavielle said.

Some students unable to return to their families will spend Thanksgiving with families of their friends. 

“I got invited by my friend Alexis to go to her family’s Thanksgiving,” French international student and international relations junior Mathilde Haccart said.

Both Haccart and Lavielle are students at Sciences Po Lille, a French university specializing in the study of foreign affairs. Haccart and Lavielle are studying at MSU’s James Madison College for the year.

Lavielle said he is look forward to experiencing Thanksgiving for the first time. 

“When we study America in France we often talk about Thanksgiving,” Lavielle said.

Many students not going home for Thanksgiving will attend the 13th annual Thanksgiving Fellowship Dinner, hosted by MSU’s Office of Cultural and Academic Transitions, or OCAT, Culturas de las Razas Unidas, and the department of Residence Education and Housing Services.

OCAT coordinator Juan Flores first attended and later helped organize the event as an undergraduate and graduate student at MSU.

“A buddy of mine named Felipe was an ICA in Akers and he didn’t leave for the holidays because he lived in Texas," Flores said. "He noticed a lot of other students didn’t go back home. He organized a dinner and everyone pitched for the dinner we had in a classroom in Akers."

The event takes place in the Brody Neighborhood classrooms from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and is free to all thanks to sponsorship from numerous organizations on campus and businesses in the community.

All of MSU’s residence halls will remain open during Thanksgiving vacation, but only one service center per neighborhood will be open. Students will also need their MSU IDs to enter their residence hall. No mail will be delivered on Thanksgiving Day.

MSU’s dining halls will adopt modified hours during the week and only select Sparty’s locations will remain open, with those remaining open also adopting modified hours.