From Freshman’s Parents Day to Family Weekend

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A few weekends ago, the town and campus swelled with visitors for Family Weekend 2015.  Parents and siblings joined students in concerts, fall convocation, sporting events and meals on and off campus.  The origins of this weekend can be found in the 1950s and what was then Freshman Parents Day.

The first Parent days were organized by the Freshman Advisers and Councils. In the 1950s, the Freshman Adviser was a senior elected by the student body (but not the freshman class) to “act as adviser and student council representative for the Freshman for the coming year.” Max Devane served as adviser in the fall of 1953. The Wildcat Handbook told new students, “Do not fail to make his friendship; use him during the year for advice and help on any problem.” (1953, p 14)  Devane took on the task of mailing an invitation to all parents of the class of 1957.  The college arranged a number of activities including a presentation by the dean of students, luncheon and attending a football game. What the college could not help with was housing.  The announcement of the day concluded with the warning: “Due to the lack of accommodations in Davidson, students whose parents plan to stay overnight are advised to find places for them in Charlotte or other nearby towns.”

A decade later another Davidsonian article noted that the day was turning into a weekend with more activities being offered on Friday evenings for early arrivals and church services on Sunday for those staying over.

In 1964, parents were invited to attend a freshman football game against Furman on Friday. Saturday events included campus tours, dormitory visits, and receptions. Richard Burts, the dean of students, noted that “Local ministers will probably be asked to present Parents Day sermons Sunday for those who stay over.”  The 1967 invitation included the notice that “Parents may attend class with their sons on Saturday provided that the professor has extended an invitation.” (Davidsonian 27 October 1967, p1)  — a reminder that there was a time when only sons attended and classes were regularly held on Saturdays.

In 1970, the college used the phrase Locus Parentium, “a place for parents” on the schedule and a news release described the day as “The parents of Davidson College’s 290 freshmen will be giving their sons a ‘six-weeks check-up’ when they visit the campus Saturday, Nov.7 for Freshman Parents Day.

By 1975,  with even more activities added, the focus had gone off freshman and the name changed to Parent’s Weekend.  The schedule of events started at 10:30am on Friday with registration, attending classes, a luncheon, appointments with faculty advisors, musical performances, visits to faculty homes, a theatre performance, dinner, more music and drama, and a final 2 hours of Coffee House from 9-11pm. Saturday started at 8:30am and again ran to an evening Coffee House.

The 1980s saw the addition of the International Festival, adding even more color to a weekend full of concerts, convocations, and sporting events. The 1993 weekend offered a bit of controversy as the weekend overlapped with the Theatre Department’s production of Equus. Parents and students mostly took the play and its nudity in stride.

As the weekend expanded, so did awareness that more than parents were involved and the name changed again to Family Weekend.  Happily, there are more hotel rooms in the area and in 2015 even more local restaurants to keep the lines at Vail Commons from being too long.