Parents and families will converge on campus this weekend, only a few weeks after they dropped their kids off and drove away.
The annual Parents and Family Weekend is happening earlier than usual this year because the Jewish high holidays fall during the weekends early in October, according to Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Clayton Koppes.
Registration for Parents and Family Weekend started today at 9 a.m. A Welcome Reception was hosted by President of the College Nancy Dye in the Allen Memorial Art Museum (AMAM) King Sculpture Court from 4:30-6 p.m.
There will be a breakfast on Saturday at 8 a.m. featuring Dye, Koppes and Dean of the Conservatory Karen Wolff as speakers.
There are also many activities for parents and friends to chose from. There are campus, Conservatory and AMAM tours, as well as concerts by folk singer Arlo Guthrie and Oberlin's chamber orchestra, a theater production, a dance performance and sports matches. Guests can also attend classes with students.
Students and administrators alike are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their guests.
"I always look forward to [Parents and Family Weekend] because it's always a nice occasion to meet parents and explain what the College is about and discuss some of the new will be my dad's first time coming to Oberlin. I wanted him to come before graduation because it will be chaos [at graduation]".
First-year Rianna Brown said her mom will be coming from Baltimore. Her plans are to "[Eat] away from here. We're definitely not eating here! I'm going to show her where my classes are. All of my classes are in the same room in King."
First-year Elisabeth Heard is waiting for her mom. "We're going to Lisa Race. And she's driving me to Cleveland to get my hair cut. My sister lives there and she knows a good place," she said.
Assistant Director of the Oberlin Fund Deloris Mabins-Adenekan, the organizer of Parents and Family Weekend, estimates that between 600 and 800 guests will visit Oberlin this weekend. The parking situation on campus and around Oberlin could be a problem. Organizers plan for guests to park in the Stevenson lot, the lot between Dascomb Hall and Rice Hall and the lots behind the service building and across the street from the service building.
The Oberlin Inn is full and has been since before Oberlin's Parents and Family Weekend invitations reached student's homes. "People made reservations last year," Mabins-Adenekan said.
Those who cannot find room at the Inn will stay in Elyria, Lorain and Bed and Breakfasts in the area. Some will stay in faculty and staff homes, through personal contacts, according to Mabins-Adenekan.
Mabins-Adenekan said, "We want to provide the opportunity for parents to get a glimpse of students in action. To make sure they're doing O.K ... My daughter's at school in Baltimore. I wish I could see her right now."
This is Mabins-Adenekan's first time organizing Parents and Family Weekend. The main concern that Mabins-Adenekan heard from parents was disappointment about the sold-out breakfast with the president and deans. The Carnegie Root Room, where the breakfast will be held, only holds 350 people.
"There is no other place large enough to accommodate [everyone]. It would be a toss-up between a meal and a lecture," said Mabins-Adenekan. In order to accommodate as many people as possible, 125 seats will be added to the room after breakfast has been served.
Mabins-Adenekan said this is her first time planning an event of this size. "We're already getting calls for the date next year,"said Mabins-Adenekan. "Please, can I just get through this one?"
Copyright © 1997, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 126, Number 4, September 26, 1997
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