Hosted by the Mexican-American student group Raza, Pachanga will provide students with a Thanksgiving dinner and traditional Mexican feast, as well as the chance to hear keynote speaker Jaime Escalante, whose teaching exploits inspired the film Stand and Deliver.

The activity is designed as a forum for discussion about issues facing Latinos in the U.S., with the focus this year on education, said Joseph P. Martinez '92, one of the event's coordinators.

"A lot of people can't go home to California or Texas for Thanksgiving, and since many Latinos are from those regions we thought we'd have a Thanksgiving for people on the East coast," Martinez said.

Martinez said that while festivities and lectures are geared towards Mexican-Americans, students of all backgrounds will be present. "It's primarily for students who aren't going home for Thanksgiving," he said.

Even those students who don't have any group activities planned for the weekend do not face the prospect of a completely solitary Thanksgiving experience.

Dale Hennessey, assistant manager for the administration of the dining services, said she expects about 300 people to show up for tomorrow's dinner in Mather House. Those students can look forward to a "traditional Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings," she said.

And while dining services employees may not be able to take the place of mom serving up the mincemeat, Hennessey said that those who work on Thanksgiving try to lend at least some sense of holiday revelry to the event. "They like doing it because it's different that the regular fare. They get to do a little flair, and the employees enjoy that," she said.

And at the very least, Harvard officials say that the occupants of near-vacant houses and dorms need fear not for their safety.

"Because of measures taken there haven't been any problems in the past," said Deputy Chief Jack W. Morse.

Morse said that Thanksgiving weekend is potentially a problem security period. But, he said, "We keep special care and watch the students."