This weekend, Union will host their annual Family Weekend including events such as the Make-A-Wish Barbecue, the SAC Movie on the Lawn and a corn hole and disc golf tournament all in modified COVID-safe ways.
The purpose of Family Weekend is to provide families with an opportunity to see the community, classes, life and friends of their student at Union. This event began many years ago in an effort to provide students with enough time to truly adjust to their new life on campus before returning home to visit parents.
Ken Litscher, Dean of Student Life & Director for Residence Life, discussed how research shows if new students spend their first 40 days on campus, their transition, academic success, and sense of belonging will all drastically increase. Those first 40 days help the new university feel like home.
Once students have spent their first few weeks adjusting, families are welcomed back to campus for a weekend full of fun activities that shows the best Union has to offer. On a typical year, this would include Union Night, a fair-like event complete with fireworks, food trucks and booths to exhibit Union organizations; the President’s Brunch which gives families the opportunity to hear from Dr. Dub; a Movie on the Lawn presented by the Student Activities Council; the Make-A-Wish Barbecue hosted by Chi Omega; and a series of family competitions and other athletic events.
This year, however, will look different. Changes include the cancellation of Union Night and the President’s Brunch as well as relocating both the Make-A-Wish Barbecue and Movie on the Lawn to the Great Lawn. While this situation is not ideal, Litscher believes these decisions will provide for better social distancing and protect the health of Union’s students and their families.
“While we love that event [Union Night], we love our students and their families more,” said Litscher. “We need to be wise, and we need to be socially distanced.”
In light of cancellations, a disc golf tournament was also added. The President’s Brunch time slot for Saturday morning will now be filled by a family corn hole tournament. In the afternoon, families can head to Union’s disc golf course for the disc golf tournament. To keep these events COVID-safe, bags for the corn hole tournament will be disinfected each round, and for the disc golf tournament, groups will be dispersed so that each will start at a different hole.
The Make-A-Wish Barbecue will be held on the Great Lawn to provide more space for the families attending. There will also be two available times for families to eat at 5:30-6:30 pm and 7-8 pm and meals will be pre-packaged to limit close contact. Tickets can be purchased from a member of Chi Omega or outside the Brewer Dining Hall during lunch hours.
The Movie on the Lawn this year will be The Emperor’s New Groove. Leah Campbell, senior music education major and president of the Student Activities Council, is thankful that their event will still be able to take place as it is inherently COVID-safe. At the event, SAC will offer snacks, drinks and popcorn. All that families need to bring are blankets or chairs to sit on, and the movie will begin at 8 pm on the Great Lawn.
Campbell encourages all students to join SAC for the movie even if their families will not be at Family Weekend. After all, this weekend is about providing a space for students to enjoy the Union community and all it has to offer.
“We talk about in SAC, our mission being to foster community on campus in different ways. While we are doing this movie for Family Weekend, I think we can still accomplish our purpose for students whose families are not coming,” said Campbell. “Come to the events that are taking place, and use it as an opportunity to grow together with some friends, and use it as a time of rest.”
