On Thanksgiving Day, the University Flats lobby is full of life, despite the dorm building almost being rid of all its residents.
The aroma of Thanksgiving dinner floats out from the kitchen, lingering around new friends watching football and playfully teasing each other. Another group plays UNO on the opposite side of the room, while others bond over their love of shoes.
Nigel Taylor woke up around 10 a.m. to finish cooking the meal he has been prepping for since Monday. He has been moving dishes from his dorm room to the lobby with the help of friends Kendall Belcher and Jhariah Wadkins, who have gone back and forth with him.
Taylor, who is originally from Massachusetts but has some family in Kentucky, is currently in a doctorate program at the University of Kentucky, set to graduate in May of 2025. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in communications from UK in 2016, as well as a master’s degree in media ventures from Boston University in 2017.
Taking up four ovens and four fridges the day of Thanksgiving according to his Instagram story, Taylor prepared enough food for 45-60 guests this year.
During 2020 when Taylor returned to UK to begin his doctorate program, his fall semester ended before Thanksgiving. Taylor’s grandmother passed on Oct. 31, 2020, his birthday having been just the day before.
“My parents came down to Kentucky earlier for the funeral, and it didn’t make sense then to go back home,” Taylor said. “I think a week or two later, again, because of COVID, the semester was going to end. I was planning just to go home with the family (in Boston).”
After talking to some of his friends and mentees who were not going home for Thanksgiving, he realized an overwhelming majority of them were not going to be with their families for the holiday.
“Because my parents really raised me in this idea of family and community and I’m really big on community, finding so many people who I care about who didn’t have a place to go, it didn’t sit well with me,” he said.
After realizing he wanted to prepare food for those who could not go home, he and his friend ended up calling their moms to figure out how to cook and then made it happen.
The following year, Taylor was planning on going home to Massachusetts but was then asked if he was going to cook for everyone again. He agreed, making it a tradition ever since.
After using a friend’s kitchen and their help the first year, the following two years, it was just Taylor. This year, Taylor received help from others in different ways.
“It was always gonna be a collaboration. I did a good amount of the cooking, but I had different friends help me,” Taylor said. “I had a friend from Houston send dessert, I have somebody who worked on campus, she cooked a lot of desserts.”
Having others who want to help Taylor through donations “means everything” to him. This year was the first where he had many food donations and assistance in purchasing ingredients. Taylor usually pays out of pocket, specifically during the past three years.
“This is the first year where donations really, really contributed to the effort to make it not as taxing,” he said. “Whenever anybody donates, there’s a lot of people who even offered to donate that, wasn’t even able to. I was like, ‘no, I don’t need it, I already have so much,’ just the offer, it means a lot.”
Though Taylor’s mother was first in disbelief over her son cooking when he first started the tradition, he said she has always believed in him.
“I think because my parents understood the purpose of it, for the community, them, my cousins, my family, they’re all very supportive,” he said. “The irony is, every time I go home, whether it’s Boston or whether I visit my family out here in Kentucky, they’re like ‘when are you gonna cook for me?’”
Taylor’s emphasis on community building on campus is evident through his desire to give those around him a Thanksgiving that, otherwise, may not have it at all.
“I think when it comes to people in general, it’s important to feel home. I think when you’re not able to go home, it could be really, really sad. I mean seasonal depression is already a thing,” Taylor said. “The holidays are already a tough time for some people, so if I could make it just a little bit better, even just for one day, then I’ll do that.”
Those who attend Taylor’s Thanksgiving meal are not asked to bring anything at all, as he supplies everything they might need.
“I want them to know if you’re coming here, everything’s provided, you don’t have to worry. As you are, you’re more than enough, you’re more than deserving, you absolutely deserve a blessing,” Taylor said.
With his graduation date set to be at the end of this school year, Taylor said he would still love to keep the tradition alive even after graduation.
“I would love to (keep the tradition.) The only issue is accessibility. I live on campus, so I have access to refrigerators and everything — everything’s kind of closely convenient. If I move out, I’ve always wanted to base this on campus so I wouldn’t have to go that far,” he said. “So, I’m thinking about ‘how can I make this experience potentially bigger and involve more people who don’t have anywhere to go?’”
Taylor has been able to reach many audiences through his Instagram account, with people reaching out to ask if they can join him on Thanksgiving. Some flying in from Seattle and driving in from Cincinnati.
“People definitely reach out more like ‘I don’t have anywhere, I wish I could have come because I don’t have anywhere to go,’” he said. “I definitely feel like I should keep it going, I just gotta figure out how.”
UK junior Belcher who helped Taylor this year, has been at Taylor’s Thanksgiving dinner every year. The two met in Taylor’s student organization Underground Perspective in 2019.
Underground Perspectives’ purpose is to “provide members to grow personally while creating the opportunity of learning other people’s perspective through conversation and group interaction,” according to their constitution and bylaws on BBNvolved.
“From there, just mentorship to friendship to brotherhood,” Taylor said.
All of the leftover food from this year’s gathering was donated to the homeless shelter on the same night, according to Taylor’s Instagram story.
Freshman psychology major Kurlly Mongbandi and healthcare administration sophomore Christal Russey attended Taylor’s Thanksgiving before heading to their own families’ later that night.
“The fact that there’s an opportunity for people to still celebrate Thanksgiving out here, especially because, you know, money (can) be tough, whatnot, all the little things, I think it’s actually pretty sweet, and I love that,” Russey said.
Lexington itself has its own local culture, but has a small black culture within it, saying events like Taylor’s are hard to find locally, according to Russey.
Similarly to Belcher, both Russey and Mongbandi met Taylor through Underground Perspective, with Russey running into him at the Martin Luther King Center, getting to know him more after looking up his Instagram.
“The whole mission of the group (Underground Perspective) is to help people (and) make you feel at home in Lexington,” Mongbandi said. “So basically, that’s what he did here, but with the UK campus and people feel welcome and that they’re heard and that he’s like everyone else … I’m just glad I found him.”
Russey said Taylor is “very loving and very caring,” eventually looking him up on Instagram, saying that she could see him making a big difference one day.
“When I see people from other cities and countries come into Lexington … and Nigel having this event, you can feel like part of Lexington, too,” Mongbandi said. “No matter where you’re from, at least you feel like (you’re at) home, and there’s a community that thinks about you and everyone else.”
