Some UF students will be left out in the cold this Thanksgiving.
The Hub and the Reitz Union shut down today at 3 p.m., and some UF students who are far away from home may have to face the Thanksgiving holiday all alone.
Debra Anderson, the international student services coordinator, said the Thanksgiving holidays are some of the loneliest days for international students.
There are 4,900 international students on campus, and most of them are graduate students. For the past nine years, Anderson has been hosting a get-together for some of them at her house. She invited 70 this year.
“The majority don’t get into a U.S. home and experience a Thanksgiving,” she said.
Shubhendu Bhasin, a 28-year-old Ph.D student in mechanical engineering, said he spent his last three Thanksgivings with one of his professors. Bhasin said this year that wasn’t an option, so he plans to work on his research or visit St. Augustine beach.
Movie theaters will be open over the holidays but the Oaks Mall will be closed on Thursday. It will open again at 6 a.m. Friday morning. RTS buses will not run Thursday or Friday.
