Just when freshmen thought they had finally escaped their parents, this weekend will find moms, dads, brothers and sisters invading campus once again for Fall Family Weekend and Homecoming activities.
This year marks the 125th anniversary of the University. To celebrate, the Office of Student Life has planned different historical activities for this year’s Family Weekend and Homecoming. Homecoming officially kicked off the yearlong celebration with a block party Thursday on East 13th Avenue. Other events include a Homecoming Ball for students, University School of Music and symphony concerts and the football game.
One of the biggest events planned for this weekend is a historical campus tour led by University alumnus Mary Hudzikiewicz on Sunday. Hudzikiewicz graduated from the University in 1963.
“I like to let everyone know a little bit about a place I think is very important,” she said.
She added her tour will include “fun stories” about the University’s past. She said family weekends in the past were done differently from how they’re structured today.
Family weekend used to be split up into Mom’s Weekend in the spring, centered around a Canoe Fete on the Mill Race, and Dad’s Weekend in the winter, centered around a basketball game, Hudzikiewicz said. The Canoe Fete started in the 1920s and continued until the 1970s and included concerts and decorated floats down the Mill Race.
About 20 years ago, Mom’s Weekend and Dad’s Weekend were melded into Parent’s Weekend, held in the fall and spring. Then three years ago the name was changed to Family Weekend, Hudzikiewicz said.
Another event planned for this year that played a role in Homecoming celebrations of the past is the Homecoming Ball, “An Emerald Evening,” sponsored by the ASUO, University Housing, Office of Student Life and the Student Alumni Association. The Ball had been absent at the University for 25 years until about three years ago when a group of students got together and decided to bring back the tradition, Homecoming Ball finance coordinator Mary Elizabeth Madden said.
“We say the dance is formal, but we ask students to just look nice,” Madden said. “We’ve had students come in khaki pants and a nice shirt to a tuxedo.”