Parents visiting their sons and daughters this Family Weekend will be treated to a variety of breakfast items such as coffee, tea and snacks from Residence Life and surrounding student housing apartments. Residence Life began planning events for this weekend about a month in advance, according to Nicholas Sweeton, senior director of Residence Life.
The events being put on by residence halls throughout campus will vary based on the students living in those halls and the likelihood of them having family visiting them. Sweeton said that students without family visiting them this weekend will not feel left out by the proceedings.
“Some communities [will have] a lot of residents that have family visit [and] some will have few,” Sweeton said. “We are cognizant of students who don’t have anybody coming for Family Weekend as well, and we want to make sure that we’re also supporting those students.”
Some standout events include the Árbol de la Vida Residence Hall, which is hosting a brunch on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
with its faculty fellow in attendance to greet and talk to parents. Cochise Residence Hall will also have its faculty fellow in attendance for its event with tea and snacks. Villa del Puente Residence Hall plans on providing tea, coffee and snacks in its lobby “to create a welcoming environment and provide a reason for students and parents just to hang out,” Sweeton said.
The Cadence, an off-campus apartment complex in downtown Tucson, also has plans for parents visiting their students.
“We’re going to have breakfast for our families on Saturday so [our residents] can enjoy a nice breakfast with their families before going to the USC vs. Arizona game,” said Stephanie Gamboa, director of marketing at The Cadence. “Our best event [last year] was the breakfast on Saturday. Everyone loved that, we asked tons of people about that and that’s why we’re doing it again this year.”
Sweeton said parents will have to ensure that they get their sons and daughters to escort them into residence halls and apartments.
“The same security protocols that are in place when it’s not Family Weekend are in place during Family Weekend,” Sweeton said.
“Parents are going to have to be escorted by a resident when they are in the building. If a sibling is coming and staying overnight, they are going to have to register through our guest policy, so we do not make any changes to these policies during this weekend.”
Gamboa also stated that The Cadence would be following the same security protocols as always.
“[Family Weekend] is an important event,” Sweeton said. “I think this event is important for the university in general. I also think it is important for our students, particularly our freshmen students who haven’t seen their parents in a few weeks now.”
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