Eberardo Galeicia installs lighting atop the SMU Christmas tree in front of Dallas Hall on Thursday afternoon. (Stuart Palley)

SMU’s annual welcome of the holiday season, the Celebration of Lights, will be celebrating a landmark 30 years at the university Sunday.

One of the more popular events on campus, the Celebration of Lights has traditionally been open to all students and entertained hundreds last year. The celebration is organized by the Student Foundation, which also runs events like Homecoming and Family Weekend every year. The VP of Programming at the Student Foundation, Micah Nerio, described the event as “a way to bring the university together before the holidays… having so many lights on campus is a really beautiful spectacle, and it’s nice to share that experience with someone.”

The crew in charge of the setup has been working hard to position over 100,000 lights for this year’s event on the trees of the Main Quad in front of Dallas Hall. According to Nerio, Campus Events Chair of the Student Foundation Shelby Reeves and her committee, in charge of the event, “have been working non-stop. This year, we are getting battery operated lumanarias. Shelby has also worked with different departments on campus: CPPO, President Turner’s Office, student talent groups, a local Dallas elementary school. A lot of planning goes into this.”

President Turner is expected to take part in the event, reading the Christmas Story from the New Testament as a benediction for the holidays. The event marks the inaugural lighting of SMU’s Christmas tree for the season. SMU’s Voices of Inspiration will provide entertainment along with caroling for all attendees. The celebration begins Sunday, Dec. 2, at 6:30 p.m. with a reception in Hughes-Trigg to follow.

Nerio is optimistic about this year.

“We expect many, many people to show up. It’s going to be the best yet… a truly wonderful experience for all,” Nerio said.