Illinois Wesleyan hosted their annual Family Weekend last weekend where families and other loved ones were encouraged to come to campus to experience the day-to-day lives of their students.
“I simply look forward to families and parents enjoying time with their students on our beautiful campus,” director of Student Involvement Kevin Carey shared before the weekend began.
Illinois Wesleyan sponsors a number of events including meals, dance and musical performances and a comedian.
“My favorite part of the weekend was being able to see my family and show them around campus,” sophomore Madeline Gutierrez said.
Many groups on campus take part in the activities, including Greek life.
This year, Fraternity and Sorority Life hosted an anti-hazing barbecue on Friday night and invited all students and family members to eat and participate in a hazing awareness activity.
“The FSL barbecue gave chapter members the opportunity to pledge themselves to continue to fight hazing, bring awareness to the rest of campus and get free food while doing it,” Melissa Holzer, senior, said.
On Friday, Campus Activities Board (CAB) put on a trivia night in Hansen Student Center for students and their families, giving participants a chance to show off their knowledge.
The Illinois Wesleyan Titan Football team played Augustana at Tucci Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Families and support systems were encouraged to cheer on the team.
The cheering must have worked, because Titans won over Augustana with a score of 21-17.
Alternatively, students were encouraged to show their support systems what Bloomington-Normal life has to offer and show them around town.
The ESports team also hosted an Open Arena at Hansen, and families were given free reign to play video games on the team’s high-tech equipment.
“Family Weekend is a great way to bring a little piece of home to students.” – Bailey Reichert
At the same time on the main floor, a Family Mini-Golf Tournament took place.
“Family Weekend is a great way to bring a little piece of home to students,” Bailey Reichert, senior, said.
“It’s getting to that point in the semester that students are beginning to miss their families.
For people who live farther away or normally have pretty busy weekends, they may not see them until Thanksgiving or even Winter Break.
Family Weekend gives students a chance to spend some time with their families about half-way through the semester before they go into crunch-time for midterms,” Reichert said.
A Capella groups Touch of Class, IWU’s all-female a cappella group, and Silence Interrupted, IWU’s co-ed a cappella group, performed later that night at Hansen Student Center.
The groups were followed by Dave Helem, a stand-up comedian and writer from Chicago, Illinois.
“I hope it [brought] a renewed energy to the students who had support systems joining them this weekend,” Kevin Carey said.