servSuccessful Families Weekend brings thousands of parents to campus

By Henry Deng     9/30/10 7:00pm

Just as some students in the middle of their first semester began longing for home, Rice's annual Families Weekend brought a little bit of home to them. According to Director of Reunion Programs and Special Events Jennifer Harding, this year's Families Weekend, whose theme was a "Dynamic Community," brought more than 1,200 parents to campus. The event was coordinated by Harding, as well as Carl Nelson, the chair of the Families Weekend Steering Committee. Both Harding and Nelson, a Brown College senior, said that the weekend was truly successful without any reports of problems.

According to Harding, this Families Weekend was similar in structure to those of previous years, but many events, such as the Rice Program Council/Passport to Houston event at The Menil Collection, offered a new venue or focus. The "Dynamic Community" theme focused on the 11 residential colleges working together to create a dynamic Rice community.

"Having all 11 colleges open was an exciting first," Nelson said. "The individual colleges' masters breakfasts on Saturday morning was a success that I think parents really enjoyed."

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In the opinion of Nelson, who has seen many families weekends as Student Association external vice president, the key difference from previous years was the number of attendants. Parents of first-year students typically characterize the majority of adult attendees, and with the largest-ever class of freshmen, there were a lot more parents. However, even with more people, he believes that everything seemed to run smoothly. Nelson acknowledged that the rain delay at the Rice versus Baylor football game was an inconvenience, but it could not have been prevented and was not really a problem.

"I can't think of any big issues that we had," Nelson said. "The only small challenges were getting volunteers for some events. That said, there were a lot of happy parents coming out of the weekend."

Both Harding and Nelson said that faculty lectures were one of the best parts of the weekend. The turnout for each lecture was anywhere from 20 to 80 people, with some lecture topics appealing to a broader range of tastes while others had a more specific audience. These talks included "The Magic of Film: How the Director Manipulates our Response to a Movie's Story and Characters" by English Professor J. Dennis Huston and "Global Health Technologies: How Rice Students are Changing the World" by Bioengineering Professor Rebecca Richards-Kortum.

One of the most popular presentations was Saturday's culinary arts demonstration by Senior Executive Chef Roger Elkhouri, Nelson said. Close to 100 people attended to get a taste of the food that students typically experience. According to Elkhouri, parents were impressed by the healthy options presented in the servery and especially enthusiastic about the fresh samples they were able to eat. Their opinions echoed those of the students who eat there every day.

"I think the food is pretty good," said Will Rice College sophomore Luke Robison. "There is a wide diversity of things to eat with a great selection of of nutritious options."

Harding said that next year's Families Weekend will be structured similarly, though the focus of various events will change. The 2011 theme will be established by a new external vice president and Steering Committee.

In regard to next year's event, Nelson said that changes may include more activities or increasing capacity to accommodate more parents and guests. Also, it will be important to develop a better rain plan in case of bad weather.

Yet while many Families Weekend events acquainted parents and guests with the academics and life at Rice, for many students and their families, the best part was just being with each other.

"It was like a breath of fresh air," McMurtry College freshman Adriana Bracho said. "It's nice getting a little bit of home here. It's starting to get to the point where you're starting to get a little bit homesick and having [my parents] here helps keep that at bay."

Bracho's parents flew from Miami, Fla. for the occasion and said that they primarily enjoyed spending time with their daughter, from having dinner and shopping to attending classes.

"It's really nice being here with her and not feeling awkward," Bracho's mother Roxana said. "All the other parents are here too, so the kids are okay with you being part of their daily routine. I'm able to eat in the servery and go to the dorm without feeling like I'm not supposed to be here."

Finally, while alleviating a little homesickness was good for the students, Bracho also cited the practical benefits to having parents around for a weekend.

"It's a lot easier to go to Target when your parents have cars," Bracho said.

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