So, Mom and Dad are coming to town, and you’re not sure how to keep them entertained?
Not to worry, the entire campus community have you covered.
The University campus welcomes all parents and family members to this year’s Spring Family Weekend today through Sunday. The weekend is designed to give parents a glimpse into the life their kid leads away from home.
Among the weekend’s events are the Honors and Awards luncheon on Saturday and the diversity perspectives lecture today, given by University administration, faculty and student groups.
“The goal of [this] weekend is to connect families of students with the community,” said Tris O’Shaughnessy, assistant dean of Student Life for family programs.
The Student Alumni Association and the Office of Student Life work together to create a weekend filled with a variety of activities to introduce or reconnect families to the University campus, she said.
The majority of parents come to town for the Honors and Awards luncheon, held at noon Saturday in the EMU Ballroom. Letters were sent to students who will be honored at the event, indicating that they would be receiving awards. However, students do not know which awards they will receive until they are announced at the luncheon, she said.
The Student Alumni Association and Student Life are encouraging students and parents to attend the diversity perspective lecture given by University administration, faculty, the ASUO, Human Rights Alliance and the Multicultural Center. The lecture is today from 3 to 5 p.m. in 231 Gilbert.
“This is a great opportunity to introduce the parents to the diversity issues on campus,” O’Shaughnessy said. “We want to make sure a wide range of campus officials and student groups are represented.”
Two special tours will be given Saturday afternoon showing students and parents the campus from a new perspective, she said.
The first, led by a University architecture student, will spotlight the architecture aspects of campus, and will begin at 9 a.m. An hour later, a botanical tour of campus will be given by a landscape architecture graduate student. Both tours will leave from the EMU Amphitheater.
Kari Hayles, 19, a psychology and sociology double major, will welcome her mom to campus this weekend. Her sorority, Gamma Phi Beta, will be hosting their spring Mom’s Weekend.
“Hopefully it will be nice because I want to walk her through campus,” Hayles said. “I don’t think she has done that before.”
Instead of entertaining parents, Holly Westphal, a pre-education freshman, said she will attend the Willamette Valley Folk Festival on the EMU East Lawn.
“I didn’t even know it was parent’s weekend,” she said.
The Cultural Forum sponsors the festival and brings musicians from all over the Northwest to campus. The festival will be held today, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 10 p.m. All performances are free.
The School of Music and University Theatre have performances all weekend as well. Beall Concert Hall has four recitals: tonight at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. All recitals are free.
The University Gospel Ensemble Choir will perform Sunday at 3 p.m. in Beall Hall. Tickets are $5 for community members and $3 for students and seniors. The University Theatre presents “The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby” this weekend in the Robinson Theatre. Tickets are $10 for community members and $5 for students and seniors. Tickets can be purchased at the University Theatre box office or the EMU ticket office.
For those students still unsure of what to do, the Student Alumni Association will have an information table today and Saturday in the EMU foyer near Greatful Bread.
Courtney Walker, an 18-year-old freshman, has a simple agenda for her parents this weekend.
“I’ll probably take them out to Saturday Market,” she said. “Then I’ll make them take me out to eat some real food. And there will definitely be some shopping, too.”
Weekend for parents offers multitude of family events
Daily Emerald
May 18, 2000
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