Photo gallery: Christmas through the years at Marquette

Christmas celebrations have been a mainstay on Marquette’s campus since the university’s founding in 1881. Traditions have evolved through the years, but the spirit remains constant.

Take a stroll through Christmastime at Marquette from the 1930s to the present as depicted in photos from the Marquette Archival Collections and Institutional Repository as well as from Office of University Relations photographer Patrick Manning.

Students pose in the lobby of St. Joseph’s School of Nursing at Christmas in 1932. St. Joseph’s was acquired four years later by Marquette, marking the beginning of the College of Nursing. (Marquette Archival Collections and Institutional Repository)
Marquette dental hygiene students pose around a Christmas tree, circa 1957. (Marquette Archival Collections and Institutional Repository)

On the left, student Mary Anne McHugh welcomes her parents to a Christmas open house held at O’Donnell Hall in 1960. On the right, a professor reads to his three sons during the Christmas season. (Marquette Archival Collections and Institutional Repository)

Head Coach Al McGuire (right) and the 1970 men’s basketball team receive a Christmas blessing inside St. Joan of Arc Chapel. Rev. Leonard Pietrowski, S.J., center, team chaplain and assistant professor of theology, said the blessing. (Marquette Archival Collections and Institutional Repository)
A Marquette student untangles a strand of lights to decorate a Christmas tree in 1975. (Marquette Archival Collections and Institutional Repository)

On the left, a Christmas tree is displayed in front of Lalumiere Language Hall in 1983. On the right, speech student Mary Heller works on a broadcasting project in the Mug Rack in 1985 — proof that students have always had to balance finals and the holiday season. (Marquette Archival Collections and Institutional Repository)

Marquette set the record for world’s tallest snowman in February of 1988. Engineering students and faculty accomplished the feat by building a 52-foot, 1.4 million-pound snowman during a “Winter Funfest” in Milwaukee.
Students walk in front of a snow-covered St. Joan of Arc Chapel in 1995. (Marquette Archival Collections and Institutional Repository)
Carollers sing Christmas songs during Marquette’s Miracle on Central Mall outside St. Joan of Arc Chapel in 1991. (Marquette Archival Collections and Institutional Repository)

Christmas trees have long lit up campus during dark, winter nights. (Marquette Archival Collections and Institutional Repository)

Since 2011, the Christmas tree in Engineering Hall has been decorated with ornaments crafted with tools and machines from the Opus College of Engineering’s own makerspace.

Future NBA players Jae Crowder, left, and Juan Toscano-Anderson pose in Santa hats in 2011.

Iggy, then simply called the Golden Eagle, dons his own Santa Claus costume during a women’s basketball game against Binghamton in 2018.
The Marquette band performs during the 2022 Christmas tree lighting in front of St. Joan of Arc Chapel.
The recently constructed Dr. E. J. and Margaret O’Brien Hall is seen behind one of the many wreaths around campus in 2022.
The Christmas tree lighting ceremony continued this year, with the Marquette Choir participating in the festivities in the Gratitude Garden.
Marquette student-athletes partnered with St. Catherine Catholic Elementary to provide $200 Kohl’s gift cards for kids this year.

Christmas trees can be found on campus as usual this year, including in the new home of Marquette Business, Dr. E. J. and Margaret O’Brien Hall.