How to Host a Friendsgiving in College
If you’re celebrating Thanksgiving at college, you’ve probably got some mixed feelings. Skipping the trip home means you’ll save money, have more time to study, and avoid those awkward political conversations with extended family. But you’ll also miss family traditions: your grandma’s famous stuffing, post-dinner charades, front-yard football games, and explaining to your parents what rizz means for the hundredth time.
First, I want to acknowledge these feelings are valid, and you’re not alone. Tons of other college students are experiencing the same homesickness right now. The best thing you can do is take advantage of your school’s free counseling sessions or talk to a peer advisor about healthy coping strategies.
Second, think of this Thanksgiving as a chance to make your own holiday traditions as an adult. Hosting a Friendsgiving is a great way to enjoy the fall season, celebrate your new friendships, and deepen bonds with classmates. Sure, there are some complications — how do you fit everyone in your residence hall, and what if you don’t know how to make a turkey? — but we’ve got the solutions. Follow these simple tips to host a successful Friendsgiving in college.
What to Cook for a College Friendsgiving
Avoid the temptation to deep-fry a turkey in a trashcan. Instead, check out these options for an easy and impressive Thanksgiving spread:
Have a Potluck
Invite each guest to bring a dish that’s special to them. Not only will this save you a ton of work, but it’ll also give your friends a chance to share how their families celebrate the holiday season. This can be cathartic for a homesick student.
Pro tip: Coordinate the list of meals in a group chat or Google Doc so you don’t get an entire meal of pumpkin pie, pumpkin pie, and more pumpkin pie — although honestly, what’s wrong with that?
Order Takeout
This is your Thanksgiving! That means you get to be the boss. If you don’t want to cook, get takeout: Thanksgiving pizza can absolutely be your new holiday tradition. (But you should probably offer a store-bought pumpkin pie for dessert. Can you tell this is the only Thanksgiving dish I care about?)
Host a Pie Breakfast
Skip straight to the good stuff! Eat pie for breakfast with your friends! Being an adult rocks!
But really, have you thought of the possibilities here? A potluck pie breakfast means you could have an entire spread of the best Thanksgiving pies: sweet potato pie, pecan pie, lemon meringue pie, coconut cream pie, apple pie … pumpkin pie …You’re totally inviting me to this, right?
Cook Easy Thanksgiving Dishes
You don’t even need access to a kitchen to prepare these tasty recipes! Just assemble them or cook in a microwave.
Complete your meal by buying a rotisserie turkey and trusty store-bought sides like Ocean Spray Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce.
Where to Host a College Friendsgiving
Hosting a Friendsgiving at your place is easy if you have an apartment, but if you live in a dorm, well … let’s just say your options get more interesting.
Your Residence Hall
The coziest option, your residence hall just needs a few tweaks to be party-ready. Follow Teen Vogue’s advice: Push the bed against the wall, ask everyone to bring over their desk chairs, or have a floor picnic with beanbag chairs and pillows. Stack the food on your desk.
Pro tip: Make sure you’re allowed to have a gathering in your residence hall before hosting, as some residence halls do not allow parties.
A Friend’s Apartment
Need more space? Tell your friend about the breakfast pie idea, then ask if you can use their apartment. Of course they will say yes! You are obviously a genius!
The Beach
If you’re lucky enough to go to school at USF, take advantage of Tampa Bay’s year-round sunny weather; you can expect highs in the 70s around most Thanksgivings. Spread a picnic blanket on the beach and toast the sunset with this refreshing Thanksgiving holiday punch.
A Campus Event Space
Talk to your resident advisor (RA) or your campus activities center to reserve an event space for your party.
Pro tip: Pumpkin pie is a tasty bribe.
How to Decorate for a College Friendsgiving
You don’t need to decorate if you don’t have the time. After all, you’re probably studying for exams right now. If you do decide to channel your inner Martha Stewart, you can spruce up the place with some DIY Thanksgiving décor. Here are some of our favorite ideas.
Pumpkin Place Settings
Grab some mini pumpkins and use a paint pen to write your guests’ names on each one. They make perfect placeholders for a traditional table setting.
Fall Photo Booth
Create your own photo booth. Buy props or craft your own from construction paper so your photos will scream Thanksgiving: a slice of pumpkin pie, fall leaves, gourds, etc. Have a Polaroid camera ready so guests can take their picture home.
What To Do at a College Friendsgiving
Here’s what you get to do at your college Friendsgiving: whatever you want!
Silent Reading Party
POV: You and your friends are introverts, but you still want to hang out. The solution? Host a silent reading party, which is exactly what it sounds like. Ya’ll can enjoy Thanksgiving snacks while quietly reading fall-themed novels and reveling in the fact that you do not have to make small talk with your weird relatives this year. A win!
If you need inspiration, these YA novels are perfect fall reads:
- The Vanishing Station by Ana Ellickson. Magic and trains are very fall-coded, which makes this lyrical fantasy a perfect Thanksgiving pick. To save her home, eighteen-year-old Filipino American Ruby Santos starts working for a powerful crime family who owns a system of magical train lines. Ruby has the power to “jump” the trains, effectively teleporting to other countries. But as her new power grows, so does her conflict with the criminal underworld — and her romance with the family’s mysterious heir.
- The Fall of Whit Rivera by Crystal Maldonado. This book is dedicated to the “PSL (pumpkin spice latte) girlies” which cements its place on our list. In this funny, cozy romantic comedy, Whit must plan the fall formal with her very hot nemesis. Although the cover copy describes it as “the book equivalent of a warm apple cider muffin,” the story also dives into deeper themes of chronic illness, sexuality, fatphobia, and Latine identity.
- The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. Set in November, this fantasy will transport you to the island of Thisby, where carnivorous water horses emerge from the sea each fall. The two main characters — nineteen-year-old Sean and sixteen-year-old Puck — compete against each other in a dangerous horse race … where the steeds themselves might just eat you.
Movie Night
Gather your friends for the ultimate Thanksgiving movie, which you can stream on your laptop (or even project on your wall if you ask your parents for an early holiday present). What counts as the ultimate Thanksgiving movie can be almost as controversial as politics, so be sure to decide before guests arrive. Personally, I think you can’t go wrong with a childhood classic like Frozen (it has snow! festive!) or The Hunger Games (a realistic depiction of most family gatherings during an election cycle!).
Game Night
Ask everyone to bring their favorite board game, play Thanksgiving classics like charades, or see who can solve Wordle the fastest. One of my favorite Thanksgiving boardgames is Everdell, which revolves around the changing of the seasons and features adorable woodland creatures. Perfect fall vibes.
If you’re lucky enough to attend school in Tampa Bay, there’s plenty of outdoor games you can enjoy on Thanksgiving. Hit the sand for beach volleyball, go kayaking in the mangroves, rent a paddleboard from the USF St. Petersburg campus boathouse, and let the gorgeous sunshine make up for the lack of fall foliage.
Volunteer Day
Volunteering for a common cause can bring your squad even closer together. If you absolutely have to, you can run the turkey trot (please don’t invite me), but you can also do something that does not involve an early-morning run! Help out at a local animal shelter (nobody is more thankful than a shelter dog on a walk), host a donation drive for your campus food pantry, clean up a public park, or talk to a community leader about how you can serve.
How Can I be Culturally Sensitive at my Friendsgiving/Thanksgiving Gathering?
The “First Thanksgiving” story is a myth, and one that has been harmful to Native American people. When you host your Friendsgiving, try these tips to be culturally sensitive:
- Avoid decorating with imagery that romanticizes colonization or appropriates Native American culture. In other words, ditch the pilgrim saltshakers and please don't wear a headdress for your photo booth.
- Consider starting your celebration with a land acknowledgment. Here’s an example of a land acknowledgment from USF Tampa.
- Learn about the connection between Thanksgiving foods — like pumpkin! — and Indigenous food systems. You can even visit a restaurant that serves Native American dishes, like Ulele in Tampa Bay.
- Read books — maybe at your silent reading party! — written by Native American authors. (Here is a great list of young adult titles from Indigenous authors).
- Take your squad to a local museum that showcases Native American history and/or art, like the James Museums’ Native Artists Gallery in St. Petersburg, or the Weedon Island cultural center.
What If I’m Nervous to Host a Friendsgiving?
Throwing a party is intimidating — as an introvert, I get it. But keep in mind that other students are just as lonely and homesick as you are, so you're doing an act of kindness by bringing people together. Sometimes, you must build the community that you want to belong to. Start small and get a few people on board before expanding to a wider invitation. That way, you can feel confident that at least a couple friends will show up.
If you really don't want to host a party, you don't have to! Your campus should have plenty of festive fall activities for you to join. At USF, our campus activities team is always cooking up something fun. Find out how you can get involved by visiting the Student Affairs website or giving them a call. And however you celebrate, have a happy holiday from all of us!
