Visual arts freshman Zoe Johnson was hesitant to give up her independence at first. However, she soon warmed up to her parents’ upcoming visit for Family Weekend.
“I was kind of annoyed when they were like, ‘Yeah, we’re coming down in September,’ and I thought, ‘Aw, I’ll just have gotten used to life here,’ but now I’m really excited about it. I haven’t seen them in a while,” Johnson said.
Family Weekend is an event at Loyola where parents and relatives of students are invited to join the life on campus and in the city. This year, the event takes place from Sept. 27 through Sept. 29.
Seth Hagler, assistant director of residential life, is the organizer of Family Weekend. He said that this year’s weekend will have a “strong educational component” due to a new partnership with the Center for the Study of New Orleans.
“This is a great partnership, and we are proud to have these offerings for our participants. Leslie Parr in the Center for the Study of New Orleans has put a lot of hard work in helping to organize these events, and I think our participants will be excited to experience the evolution of these sessions and tours,” Hagler said, via email.
Hagler said that residential life has increased the number of both educational sessions led by faculty members and bus tours of New Orleans.
“This year, faculty members will offer four educational sessions (two on Friday, two on Saturday), and will be the hosts of three unique bus tours on Saturday morning, with topics ranging from the environmental landscape of New Orleans, to being Sicilian in the French Quarter, to an experience at the Backstreet Cultural Museum in the Treme,” Hagler said via email.
The entire weekend will not be dedicated to educational sessions, though. The weekend’s schedule shows that there will also be two Wolf Pack volleyball matches, Salsa dancing, and a PRISM concert put on by Loyola students.
Johnson said that she will not be participating in most of the weekend’s events due to her academic workload. However, Johnson said her parents are eager to explore New Orleans through Loyola’s events.
“They are excited to just experience the city. I mean, they’re really happy that I’m here because they just want to come have an excuse to go run around New Orleans and play,” Johnson said.
Hagler said that the two events that draw the biggest crowds are the Welcome Reception on Friday evening and the Jazz Brunch on Sunday. Hagler said that these events promote some of the best parts of Loyola.
“We feature great food from Uptown Campus Dining, music from student groups, and an opportunity to spend time with students, faculty staff and administration,” Hagler said via email.
According to Hagler, Loyola usually has more than 400 participants for Family Weekend. He said that residential life is expecting this year’s numbers will be “very close to our typical attendance.”
Karl Gommel can be reached at [email protected].
