65th Annual Carol of Lights®
Saturday, December. 2, 2023
Join us this year for the 65th Annual Carol of Lights®!
The Carol of Lights event each year is the undisputed favorite tradition of the Texas
Tech University community. This annual event, sponsored by the Texas Tech Residence
Halls Association, is attended by over 20,000 Tech students and local residents. The
Carol of Lights® is one of Texas Tech's largest and oldest traditions. The event brings
together both the Texas Tech and Lubbock communities during its ceremonies.
The 65th Annual Carol of Lights presented by Coca-Cola, will serve as the official closing ceremony for Texas Tech's Centennial Celebration.
This annual event is attended by thousands of students, alumni and members of the
Lubbock community and is one of our largest and oldest traditions. This year, the
program will be reimagined for a 2nd year with live entertainment, new staging, drone
show as well as a firework display to conclude the night.
History and Fun Facts
This annual event, sponsored by the Texas Tech Residence Halls Association, is attended by over 20,000 Tech students and local residents. The Carol of Lights® is one of Texas Tech's largest and oldest traditions. The event brings together both the Texas Tech and Lubbock communities during its ceremonies.
In the 1950s, Dr. Gene Hemmle, co-founder of the Carol of Lights®, got together with a small group of students in the residence halls. They gathered at Memorial Circle to sing Christmas carols and drink hot chocolate. The first Carol of Lights® was organized in 1959, with 5,000 lights. In 1961, the event was officially named the Carol of Lights and had grown to 16,000 lights. The ceremony has continued every year except in 1972 when Texas Tech canceled the event because of the university's energy conservation policy.
In 1992, the Carol of Lights® received a Certificate of Registration from the State of Texas.
In late September, a team from the University's Physical Plant began securing lights on the buildings. They work daily for over a month (in both good and bad weather!) to have the buildings ready for the celebration.
2014 marked the first year that 100% of the bulbs used were LED. This 5-year transition of bulbs is estimated to reduce the energy consumption needed to light the bulbs by roughly 84%.
A 38-foot Christmas Tree (and 5-foot star) was updated in 2014 to include all-white LED bulbs. The tree purchased in 2014 is also sturdier and more reliable.
Members of the Women's Service Organization (WSO) will set up the 20-foot wreath made of fresh-cut pine limbs on the Science Building. The pine branches used to adorn the wreath are cut by the TTU grounds crew on the TTU campus.
ALPHA PHI OMEGA and CHI Rho placed 3,000 luminaries around Memorial Circle the night of the ceremony.
Read more about the history of this tradition at Texas Tech Today:
Questions and Concerns
The Carol of Lights is possible through the cooperative efforts of many student organizations on the Texas Tech campus. We appreciate any effort you can make to publicize this event. If you have any concerns or questions regarding the Carol of Lights®, please contact us at housing@ttu.edu.
Broadcast Information
Last year, over 7,000 people watched the Carol of Lights® through one of the broadcast options.
- KTXT-FM "The Raider" will broadcast the event live on 88.1 FM in Lubbock
- KTTZ-TX will broadcast the event live on Lubbock area PBS stations
- Texas Tech will stream the event live on Facebook from http://www.ttu.edu/livestream/
66th Annual Carol of Lights® Student Art Competition
The Carol of Lights® Student Art Competition was created to allow Texas Tech University Students (living on campus) the oppurtunity to express their creativity and love for the Carol of Lights® event by creating original artwork. All of the submissions will be judged by a panel of judges and ranked based on the piece's creativity, style, and it's interpretation of the Carol of Lights® event.
The selected submission(s) will receive a cash prize of $250.00. Online submissions of photos of artwork and photography pieces are due on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024 at noon. Original artwork, excluding photography, should be submitted in person to the University Housing Office located in the Wiggins Complex (3211 18th St) to Anna Burton by Noon on, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. You will be asked to attach a photo of your artwork, or the original digital file as a .jpg, .pdf, .pub, or .png file as a part of your application due on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024.
Rules for Carol of Lights® Student Art Competition
- Must be a Texas Tech Student (enrolled in courses at Texas Tech's main campus in Lubbock) and a resident living in the TTU Housing Department at both the time of submission and the time of awarding to be eligible to receive the prize.
- The theme for the artwork must be the artist's interpretation of the TTU Carol of Lights® event.
- All submissions must be 2D art pieces. Modalities may include, but are not limited to, water color paintings, oil paint, photography, pencil sketches, and graphic design. The art work may also be multi-modal.
- No 3D artworks such as sculptures, carving, models, etc. will be accepted or judged.
- All photography pieces must be 8x10 picture with a 3300 pixel by 5100 pixel resolution at 300 ppi.
- All paintings, drawings and computer-generated pieces can be no larger than 8x10 in size.
- All submissions need to be the artist's original work. Any unoriginal artwork is plagiarism, and will be disqualified from the competition. Any student caught plagiarizing artwork will be forwarded to the Office of Student Conduct for adjudication in compliance with University policy.
The submissions will be split and judged in three categories: Photography, Hand Drawn/Painted, or Digitally Produced/Computer Generated.
Texas Tech University Residence Hall Association (RHA) retains the right to use the submission in future marketing materials for the Carol of Lights® event at no cost to the organization.
Lets join in on the 100 Million Hours of Volunteerism
University Student Housing
-
Address
Wiggins Complex, 3211 18th St., Box 41141, Lubbock, TX 79409 -
Phone
(806) 742-2661 | Fax: (806) 742-2696 -
Email
housing@ttu.edu