Pennlive.com: SHIPPENSBURG, PA - Kwanzaa came a few weeks early in Shippensburg.

Shippensburg University students, faculty and community members filled the multipurpose room of the campus' Ceddia Union Building to celebrate the African-American cultural holiday Saturday.

Students lit the seven candles in the kinara (a candelabra) to symbolize the principles of Kwanzaa and took part in pour libation, a ritual made in memory of those who have died, as part of the annual celebration and feast sponsored by the University's African American Organization and Office of Multicultural Student Affairs

"(The event) teaches people who may not be (familiar with Kwanzaa) about the beauty of African-American culture," said Dianne Jefferson, director of the office of multicultural student affairs. "We're sharing our culture and sharing cultures is beautiful."

Kwanzaa is based on seven principles: purpose, faith, creativity, unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, and cooperative economics, principles that Jefferson said organizers tried to incorporate in the nearly all-day event.

Read More