Last week, members of the Vassar community from across the country flocked to campus for Vassar’s annual Families Weekend. The event promoted a robust schedule of activities, offering panels, lectures and tours for students and their families. The program began Sept. 27 and concluded Sept. 29.
For many first-year students, Families Weekend is their first opportunity to see their family since beginning their college journey on move-in-day. Ed Cheetham, the Associate Director of Campus Activities wrote in a statement to The Miscellany News, “Families Weekend creates opportunities for families to reconnect with their students and experience a bit of what their life is like while living on campus. The panels and tours are meant for both families and their students to learn more together about the work happening in class, the networking opportunities available for Vassar students and also give everyone a chance to spend time with senior administration and learn more about the direction and inner workings of the college as a whole.”
The annual event draws hundreds to campus. Cheetham wrote of the weekend’s attendance, “We anticipated over 700 people to be on campus. We have over 350 families who have registered to attend but there are always families who do not register and come visit.” He continued, “We try to make attendance as easy and relaxed as possible. We really want families to come and spend time with their students!”
The college organized several panel discussions for parents and students to attend, covering Academic Life, Summer Experiences for Students and concluding with a Q&A with the President and the Deans. The discussion between President Bradley, Dean of the College Carlos Alamo-Pastrana, Interim Dean of the Faculty Brian Daly and Associate Dean of the faculty and Academic Resources Kelli Duncan covered a wide array of topics, including how the College was adapting to the onset of new technologies, specifically AI tools like ChatGPT, stating the College is embracing these new technologies.
The conversation additionally addressed the college’s tuition increases. The panelists spoke of the College’s commitment to need-blind admissions as well as the College’s efforts to spread the endowment to make tuition more affordable. Additionally, they maintained that it is expensive to run an institution of higher education that provides the niche education that Vassar has.
The weekend offers the families of students—both new and returning—the opportunity to attend their performances, games and gain further insight into their extracurricular activities. Numerous sports teams, such as Women’s Field Hockey, Men’s Soccer and Women’s Rugby hosted home games. Other organizations held fundraising events: Vassar Ultimate Frisbee sold stickers, discs and pins in front of the Deece, and the Vassar Ski Team hosted a car wash between Strong and Lathrop. The Barefoot Fireflies, Vassar’s circus troupe, performed in their annual Families Weekend Show on Saturday night on the Quad, despite the rainy conditions.
Vassar organization Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) tabled outside Ferry House. “We chose Families’ Weekend as our platform for spreading awareness, because as a private institution, Vassar’s priorities are motivated by finances, meaning parents are also stakeholders in our efforts to divest,” said Lucy Gundel ’25 in an email to The Miscellany News. Recently, the Board of Trustees decided to delay the vote on Vassar’s Popular University for Gaza divestment plan until February, despite the agreement signed between students and President Bradley last May stipulating the vote would be held in May or October of this year. “We asked parents to take part in an email campaign directed towards PB, withhold donations until divestment, and raise the issue of divestment in the ‘conversation with the president and the deans’ on Saturday,” Gundel added.
Regarding the reaction to SJP’s tabling during Families Weekend, Gundel wrote, “I had multiple meaningful talks with parents who were curious to know the current divestment status and were willing to do what they could to help. Going into the day, I was anticipating more direct pushback from families, but most parents I talked to were very understanding.” They continued, “Earlier in the morning we did experience some pushback from parents who talked to security and administration attempting to get our two tabling areas around Ferry removed.” Despite this initial reaction, Gundel remarked: “In my interactions, the response from parents and students was very positive.”
The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center provided a Highlights Tour of the permanent collection as well as chamber music from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon with several music groups on campus showcasing their talents. Zeke Wise ’28, a member of The Vassar College Choir, was among one of the performers in the Loeb. He shared: “My mom came to visit me because she wanted to spend some time with me and also to watch me perform at Vassar for the first time. She was really blown away and I’m so happy I got to share my work with her.”
Another performer and member of a Vassar Chamber Group, Annie Brewer ’25, commented, “I think it’s really inspiring to play in a [room full] of art and the room has particularly good acoustics.” Brewer’s parents were also in attendance at the event. She commented, “They really like to come listen to my musical performances. I thought it was special because they hadn’t heard my chamber group last year so that was fun.”
Stand-up comedy group Com Nom held a show for both students and parents on Friday night. One group member, Jacob Rulnick ’25, said of the group’s decision to host during Parents Weekend, “This is the second year in a row Com Nom has premiered on parents weekend. I think the group thrives in unconventional spaces and one way to do that is by bringing in the ‘rents. I think too that Vassar can get caught up in thinking it’s solely for students but can and should be a place for all; it gets tricky with card access, so it’s great for students to bring their loved ones into this event!”
Families were also invited to join in on several campus organization’s religious and spiritual practices. On Friday, the Vassar Muslim Students Association (VMSA) hosted a student-led Jummah prayer at Pratt House. Shabbat Services were offered by Vassar Jewish Union and Chabad Jewish Community, with both serving a home cooked meal afterwards. The Chapel hosted the Vassar Catholic Community for their Sunday Liturgy Celebration.
The programming put forth for Families Weekend is a product of numerous departments, offices and employees collaborating. Cheetham commented, “It takes so many people to make Families Weekend possible–from Campus Activities, Advancement, Facilities Operations, Grounds, Dining Services, Drama department, and many others.”
