Parents and siblings alike convened in Geneseo for Family Weekend 2013, which provided a host of opportunities to showcase the abundant academic and co-curricular opportunities that Geneseo has to offer. The weekend, which spanned from Friday Oct. 25 to Saturday Oct. 26, offered families opportunities to attend workshops and Parents College classes across the gamut of academic interests.
Faculty representatives from the mathematics, English, biology, political science and international relations, psychology and chemistry departments offered courses on topics ranging from the challenges faced by adoptive families to the relationship between Dante and mathematics.
Parents also attended practical demonstrations of the wave tank and flume as well as the Pelletron Particle Accelerator.
Co-curricular showcases included a display of Geneseo’s performing artists and musical ensembles at the annual Kaleidoscope concert as well as a highlight of local and student artists at the Lederer, Bridge and Lockhart Galleries. Geneseo Theater Club also regailed their family-filled audience with their rendition of “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo.”
The Athletics Department provided free admission at the Women’s Volleyball, Hockey and Men’s Soccer games in honor of the presence of families on campus.
On Saturday Oct. 26, Interim President Carol Long hosted a conversation with parents in an attempt to discuss Geneseo’s latest news, missions and initiatives.
“Our mission is to develop socially responsible citizens with skills and values important to the pursuit of an enriched life and success in the world,” Long said. “More than 56,000 alumni across the county and around the world help us to achieve that mission.”
Long referenced Geneseo’s high rankings by the U.S. News and World Report, the Princeton Review and Washington Monthly as evidence of Geneseo’s success in achieving its mission.
“We promote high impact learning practices, seminars, internships, service learning opportunities, undergraduate research… things that take our learning beyond a simple text and classroom learning.”
Long also spoke about Geneseo’s reputation as an affordable higher education option, citing Geneseo as among the nation’s top 40 colleges for value. “[Geneseo] is a school earning top honors for making debt manageable and producing students who have strong career potential when the graduate,” she said.
Also available to visiting families was the opportunity to attend a Study Abroad workshop and an alumni panel titled “What I Know Now, That I Wish I Had Known Then”.
The newly established Center for Inquiry, Discovery and Development hosted a Saturday Meet and Greet with families in order to discuss the mission and purpose of the center.
Limelight and Accents Performing Arts Series provided some comedic relief to the weekend with a performance by world-class stand-up comedian Judah Friedlander on Saturday evening.
Overall, the weekend provided families the opportunity to experience a taste of the day-to-day life of their own Geneseo students.