After sending their children to college more than a month ago, thousands of Boston University parents descended onto campus to reunite with their children and share in a weekend of university activities.
The events included a performance by the Second City comedy troupe, several receptions with deans of colleges, two brunches, a Saturday Night Extravaganza and a casino night.
For Lori Berdeguez, traveling up from Maryland to see her daughter, College of Arts and Sciences freshman Kelsey Berdeguez, was worth waiting for.
“It’s the first time we’ve been back since we dropped her off in September,” she said. “I was really looking forward to it.”
Several students said a little over a month was just enough time to be away from their parents and that their visit was a welcomed opportunity.
“It’s really nice to see them, because I haven’t seen them in awhile,” Kelsey Berdeguez said. “I was really homesick for awhile, but it’s also nice to show them what I’ve been up to since they dropped me off.”
In previous years, Parents’ Weekend had been saved for Homecoming weekend, but it was moved this year to separately acknowledge the two events, Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore said. Most of the weekend’s events were similar to past years, with the exception of the traditional float parade down Commonwealth Avenue.
“We wanted to still allow an opportunity for parents and their daughters and sons to get together in more of an informal circumstance,” he said during the Saturday morning brunch. “Do it informally, relaxed and also to have some music from some of our students playing throughout the day.”
Saturday was reserved for most of the university-held events – leaving Sunday for parents to relax with their children. Diane Petraglia said she attended Saturday’s casino night with her daughter Jessica Petraglia, a SED freshman.
“The fair was very nice,” she said. “It’s just too bad the weather was so horrible.”
Her husband Robert Petraglia said the rainy weather Friday and Saturday was his only complaint about Parents’ Weekend.
“It’s refreshing to see their faces again after not having seen them for quite some time,” Jessica Petraglia said.
BU’s Programming Council was largely responsible for organizing many of the Parents’ Weekend events, Special Events Coordinator Jessica Howe said.
Thanks to the non-stop activity of Parents’ Weekend, Hollie Kovach, mother of College of Communication freshman Kelli Kovach, said she would definitely come back next year.
“Lots of stuff was going on for the students, for us to see what happens here on a regular basis,” she said. “But we came to see [our daughter] for the most part. That was the highlight.