Last weekend, parents and siblings of Hopkins students descended on Homewood Campus for Family Weekend, an annual event organized by Dean of Student Life Susan Boswell. From Friday to Sunday, Hopkins hosted events in which parents could participate both individually and with their children. In all, the weekend provided an opportunity to showcase student talents and accomplishments to parents.
The weekend’s activities included Greek Life and Study Abroad information sessions, tours of the Evergreen and Homewood Museums, and the Students Performing Arts Showcase, which featured 18 of the University’s student singing and dance groups, ranging from a chamber choir to breakdance.
Other events that families could attend included a dance showcase on Saturday by SLAM, a hip-hop dance group of Hopkins students; a Sunday performance of the slapstick comedy “Noises Off!” by the Barnstormers, a Hopkins student-run theatre group; and a Hopkins Football game against Ursinus College, which was preluded by a tailgate sponsored by the Hopkins Organization for Programing (HOP), Residential Advisory Board (RAB) and the Parents Fund.
Furthermore on Friday, a program titled “Parents College” gave parents the opportunity to observe classes in subjects such as computer science, political science and public health.
Most parents stayed at the hotels that the Office of Undergraduate Admissions recommended: the Double Tree Inn at the Colonnade, the Mount Washington Conference Center, Radisson at Cross Keys and the Courtyard Baltimore Downtown/Inner Harbor.
Both parents and students appeared to enjoy the variety of events that Family Weekend offered. Some students showed a particular affinity for the arts performances that took place during the weekend.
“My favorite parts were the shows that [Hopkins] put on for the parents. Also, the SLAM showcase was really good. That was my mom’s favorite part,” sophomore Summer Rak said.
Other students enjoyed time outside with their families, including attending the football tailgate.
“I loved playing ‘bear pong’ with my parents and older brother at the pregame tailgate,” freshman Alexis Rodriguez said. The objective of the game is to throw balls into empty cups that are arranged on the grass.
In addition to “bear pong,” the tailgate offered hot dogs, hamburgers, veggie burgers, Hopkins memorabilia, airbrush tattoos and friendly competitions of cornhole.
Another popular event was Sunday’s Sterling Brunch, which occurred from 10:00 a.m to 2:00 p.m. in the Fresh Food Café For $13.99 or a meal swipe, students and parents could help themselves to an array of cheeses, multiple carved meat stations and a fresh fruit display. The Sterling Brunch occurs twice a semester.
In addition to partaking in school-organized activities, many students used Family Weekend as an opportunity to venture off of the Homewood campus.
“I loved seeing more of Baltimore with my family. It’s not that often that I go off-campus, but while I was with my parents, we went to the Walters Museum around Mount Vernon,” Rodriguez said. “Mostly I loved catching up with my family. We even celebrated my brother’s birthday, which was in mid-October, the first night we were all together.”
While the majority of students interviewed loved seeing their families, the general consensus was that they were able to accomplish very little schoolwork.
“[My parents] came, they saw, they napped. It was fun, but not much got done,” Freshman Alex Peterson said.
Despite the generally positive response, some students were unimpressed with the activities offered during the weekend.
“[Family Weekend] was okay. [My family] liked coming and seeing me, but they did not participate in anything,” sophomore Danny Huang wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
Other students provided recommendations on how to improve the Family Weekend experience.
“I would recommend they give wristbands to parents, like they [do] to pre-frosh, that allow them to enter and exit the AMRs and turn off swiping to house doors,” freshman Michael Korn wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
Others were just frustrated with the amount of homework their professors had assigned.
“To improve, they can stop giving so much homework on [Family] Weekend,” Rak added.
