Juan Flores, who oversees student success and community initiatives for OCAT, said the dinner is intended to offer a free meal to students who remain on campus for Thanksgiving.

"We know that there's a lot of food insecurity, and a lot of students rely on meals on campus or don't have anywhere else to eat during that day when everything's closed on campus," Flores said. 

The annual dinner was institutionalized in 2010 when OCAT started officially coordinating it, Flores said. Before that, the dinner was housed by Migrant Student Services, the School of Social Work and the Latino Students Association.

"It was a student-driven event created by a former student who used to work for OCAT as a minority student aide," Flores said. 

That student, Felipe Lopez, was from Texas and had nowhere to go for the holiday, so he invited students that were still on campus to dinner. Flores said he was one of those students.

"It created an opportunity to bring people together," Flores said. "He went knocking on doors: Hubbard Hall, Holmes Hall, all of East Neighborhood to where his students resided."

Now, the annual dinner has support from Student Life & Engagement and Culinary Services, which pay for most of what’s needed while OCAT coordinates.

At least 747 students showed up for last year’s dinner, Flores said. 

Flores hopes to offer a "free, delicious (and) diverse meal" to students that choose to attend, he said.

"I hope that students that don’t have anywhere to go or have money to buy three meals that day choose to come, and they make that brave choice to sit down with us and select from a diverse spread of cuisine," Flores said.

Some of the food will be provided by Southwest Barbecue Bob Evans, Ocean Star, Don Poncho Market and Woody's Oasis. Other options and cultural foods such as Middle Eastern cuisine, kosher, halal and vegetarian will also be served.

Flores encourages students who find themselves on campus on Thanksgiving to stop by and enjoy a hot meal and watch the Detroit Lions vs. Chicago Bears game.

Students and anyone interested in joining the OCAT dinner can RSVP here.