Eighteen buildings in the center of the Texas Tech campus will be lit up at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, December 1st during the 57th annual Carol of Lights ceremony.
Picture courtesy of Texas Tech University.
According to the Texas Tech Student Housing, more than 25,000 colored light bulbs will be aglow during this year’s ceremony.
Craig Kuehnert, the assistant director for student leadership development, said the shining Christmas lights will not be conventional ones bought from a grocery store. Instead, a switch will be flipped igniting energy saving light-emitting diodes, or LED, lights.
“We’ve been working on this for about five years,” Kuehnert said. “Last year was the first year we used all LED lights for the ceremony. These new bulbs save about 80 percent more energy.”
The new lights save not only energy during the month-long December tradition, but also money, Kuehnert said.
“Prior to the transition to LED bulbs, the university spent an estimated $1,437 to power the bulbs,” Kuehnert wrote in an email to the Hub@TTU. “Now that we’ve completed the transition to 100% LED bulbs, we estimate spending $197 for the same duration.”
Approximately 20,000 people attended the Carol of Lights on campus last year while 6,000 watched the festivities online from places as far away as Egypt, Kuehnert said.
A team from the Texas Tech Physical Plant began putting lights up in late September, working in good, bad and ugly weather conditions to make sure the buildings were ready to be completely lit up for the ceremony, according to the university student housing website.
Information from Texas Tech University Student Housing Services
Kelsey Holt, a freshman public relations major, said she has never been to the Carol of Lights at Texas Tech before, but cannot wait to attend the ceremony this year.
“I have heard a lot of good things about it,” Holt said. “Everyone always talks about how it’s their favorite Tech tradition. I’m looking forward to it, it kind of brings in the holiday cheer and gives students a time to relax during finals.”
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