Family Weekend welcomes over 5,000 visitors to campus
Many families who visited campus during the 2016 fall semester Family Weekend participated in a community service project run by Meals of Hope and the Parent’s Council by packaging meals for those in need. Photo By: highpoint.edu
By Alexis Ancel// News Editor
Hundreds of family members came to hear Dr. Nido Qubein, HPU president, at Family Weekend. Photo By: highpoint.edu
Each semester thousands of family members from all over the globe come to visit their High Point University students for Family Weekend.
Last semester, a record number of roughly 5,000 family members visited during the spring semester Family Weekend, and this number has only grown with each passing year as the incoming freshman classes continue to expand. During this year’s 2016 fall semester Family Weekend, HPU hosted over 5,400 family members.
“Family Weekend is always a lot of fun because there are so many different events and ways to spend time with your family on campus,” said Eleanor Albert, HPU junior. “It gives everyone the chance to get involved and meet other families as well.”
Over the course of the weekend, HPU offers a wide variety of different events and activities for families to participate in. These events range from faculty lectures, choral performances, community service projects and sporting events.
Melissa Anderson, director of university events, mentioned that generally the most popular events are the “activities that feature HPU students, or where students and families can hang out in a casual setting like Bingo. Everyone also likes the University Update with Dr. Qubein to learn about what’s up and coming for HPU.”
Some of these activities are held every semester, but the University Events team works hard to come up with new and interesting events for each Family Weekend.
“We keep the activities that are popular like Bingo, but we try to change the topics of the lectures to what’s trending, or to current first year seminar topics,” Anderson said.
“Whenever my mom comes for Family Weekend, we always go to see the Charcoal Pony show,” said Lauren Yoder, HPU junior. “It’s our favorite event.”
Countless hours of work from various departments go into planning these weekends every semester. While the University Events staff primarily organizes Family Weekend, it takes collaboration from many other departments on campus to ensure that everything goes smoothly.
“We have a team that we work with,” Anderson said. “People from Student Life, IT, Communication and Advancement all help and have their hand in the planning and execution of the weekend. We rely on those other offices to assist during the weekend too, since the University Events team only has three staff members.”
In fact, planning for the next Family Weekend begins immediately after the previous one is over.
“In the spring, we are hoping to feature all student entertainment options,” Anderson said. “The Charcoal Pony show was at max capacity this past weekend and people love the a capella concerts.”
The University Events staff has already begun to discuss the schedule and activities for the 2017 spring semester Family Weekend based on feedback they received on this past Family Weekend.
“A common theme among the survey responses was that students really love showing off their new home to their parents and families,” Anderson said. “HPU is truly a place to be proud of. Family Weekend is a great chance to invite families to campus to enjoy a weekend of fun and fellowship.”