Family members of all ages were welcomed to campus and given a glimpse into the Gopher experience during Family Weekend which ran from Friday, Oct. 4 to Sunday, Oct. 6. The weekend is hosted by Gopher Family Engagement in collaboration with many campus partners to give families time to connect with their students while participating in numerous events and opportunities. The weekend is structured to be a “build your own adventure”, with so many events and programming options that you’d never be able to do them all!
At check-in on Friday afternoon, families were greeted by orientation leaders and gifted a bag of goodies to start their weekend. Many then flowed into the Coffman Theater to listen to panels about mental health resources and study-abroad opportunities. Later in the afternoon, with the UMN marching band leading the charge, the official kickoff began with UMN President Cunningham giving a warm welcome and sharing excitement about the weekend ahead.
Saturday offered a multitude of options with pickleball, yoga, and spin classes at RecWell, M Food Co. offering brunch and teaching kitchens, in addition to bowling and bingo at the Student Union and discounts to Bell Museum and the campus golf course.
Families purchased 4,000 tickets to the home football game and packed the McNamara Alumni Center Plaza for the Ski-U-Mania tailgate before the UMN vs. USC football game - where the Gophers went ahead to win with just 56 seconds left in the game!
“It was truly wonderful to see so many families on campus enjoying time with their students,” Director of Gopher Family Engagement Gavin Grivna said, “there were many more families on campus this year compared to previous years, many of whom were first-generation families. We also had families from 48 of the 50 United States, representing 3 countries! There were more families, more events and something for everyone to enjoy the entire weekend.” Grivna added.
Following all the excitement of the football game, Sunday wrapped up with information about housing for next year, a PAWS (Pet Away Worries and Stress) session, and yard games.
Each year as Family Weekend concludes there is an overwhelming feeling of UMN pride. Many families come from out of state and a few fly in from other countries, but one commonality all attendees share is how proud they are of their student(s) for being a Minnesota Gopher.
