The DU community will be participating in several religious and seasonal observations this week.
This week marks the holiest week in Christianity, and for Christians the primary purpose is to reenact, relive and participate in the passion of Jesus Christ, says DU Chaplain Gary Brower.
Brower will host an audio-visual meditative piece called “Way of the Cross” on Maundy Thursday — the day of the Last Supper and Jesus’ betrayal by Judas — at noon at Evans Chapel. The piece will present images and paintings paired with Marcel Dupré’s organ masterpiece Le Chemin de la Croix, Brower says.
A Good Friday service — a mourning of Jesus’ death — will be held at noon in Evans Chapel on April 2.
Egg hunt
The Staff Advisory Council and Faculty Senate is hosting Easter entertainment that will last about 5 minutes — which is all the time it takes for kids to find and collect 4,000 eggs that are stuffed with candy.
The 18th annual egg hunt will be 11 a.m. April 3 in DU’s Humanities Garden.
There will be five different groups on the hunt scouring different sections of the garden: infants–2 year-olds; 3–5 year-olds; 6–10 year-olds, 11–17 year-olds and adults. Besides candy, kids can find toys, activity books, balls and more that have been donated by University departments. Adults can race to pick up DU T-shirts, mugs and water bottles, among other items.
The egg hunt is for DU staff, faculty and their families. The often-crowded event likely will have 250 participants.
Passover
Hillel, DU’s student Jewish group, is celebrating Passover with a Seder event that is a new take on an old tradition.
“The Freedom Seder: A Celebration of our Freedom” event will take place at 6:30 p.m. April 5 in Craig Hall’s Community Room. The free event — which includes dinner —celebrates freedom with a selection of foods from different traditions, including Kosher for Passover. Members of groups that will be represented at the event — including the Asian Student Alliance, Black Student Alliance and Latino Student Alliance — will speak about their experiences regarding oppression.
“It seeks to develop intergroup communication and understanding through discussions of histories of oppression and freedom around the context of a meal,” says organizer Joel Portman, a senior international studies major from St. Louis.
“It’s based on the Passover Seder in which stories of coming out of oppression into freedom are told in conjunction with a meal,” Portman says. “It celebrates progress while recognizing that oppression still exists today.”
Past Freedom Seders have tended to focus on the experiences of only Jews and African-Americans, but Portman says this event will try to expand the dialogue to include other backgrounds.
To attend, RSVP to jewishlife@hillelcolorado.org by April 2.