By Kelly Berger

Easter is more than just painted eggs and jelly beans for UK student Holly Bennett.

Bennett, from Kansas, plans on sticking around Lexington to celebrate Good Friday and Easter. She will worship at her church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“It’s very special to me, because I believe in Jesus, and it’s a day to celebrate him,” Bennett said. “ … I believe Easter’s a celebration of how I live my life the rest of the year.”

Christians believe Easter marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the son of God, in the first century. The event comes two days after Good Friday, the date Christians say Jesus was crucified.

UK student Jarrod Colbert plans to attend his church’s services in Lexington as well because he cannot get home to his family near Indianapolis. Colbert plans on going to an Easter service at Consolidated Baptist Church.

“I can’t make it home, so I’ll just go to church,” Colbert said, “I also might call my mom.”

Some students not able to visit their families while away at college are opting out of celebration or embark on coming together to celebrate a passion of their own.

Mary Alice Pratt, coordinator of Social Justices Ministries at the UK Newman Center, will head this year’s “Walking Way of the Cross,” which plans on having student participants for this year’s event.

The focus of this walk will be Latin America and Appalachia and will feature a few people carrying a large cross and the rest of the participants following. The purpose of these walks is to help bring awareness to the ways people are being crucified and oppressed similar to the way Christ’s suffered on Good Friday, Pratt said.

This year’s walk will begin at the Newman Center courtyard at noon on Friday and will go through campus, concluding at the Newman Center by 1:30 p.m.