Cardinal families flock to campus for Family Weekend

Freshman Carissa Spetoskey paints pumpkins with her family including her dad, mom, step mom, step dad, big sister, and little sister. Vanguard Graphic | Brooke Elward

Over the weekend, SVSU hosted a Family Weekend with a series of activities for students and faculty to participate in with family.

The Associate Dean of Students Jason Schoenmeyer said Family Weekend allowed students to show their families what college is like.

“Family Weekend is designed to help students host their families for a weekend and to share their college experience with family members,” Shoenmeyer said.

Shoenmeyer said Family Weekend gives people the chance to experience SVSU at its busiest.

“Family Weekend allows families of students, faculty and staff to experience the hustle and bustle of the SVSU campus at the height of the academic semester,” he said.

Many activities were available for families, including a recital performed by SVSU’s ballet team.

Hinano Horiuchi, an international student from Japan, said she hoped her performance brought families together nontraditionally, without the use of language.

“I hope our ballet performance brought not only SVSU students, but bigger communities together by sharing the same beautiful experience without the use of language,” Horiuchi said. “I’m glad I still do ballet in the U.S. I realized that even though we speak different languages, we can still have fun and be moved together.”

The hockey team also played a game over the weekend. Heidi Ewald, a nursing sophomore, said the game brought her closer to her SVSU family.

“Going to watch the hockey games brings me closer to my family here at SVSU and gives my sister and me a chance to do something fun together,” she said.

Ramon Hernandez, a neuroscience junior, shared a similar experience about his time at the football game.

“Cardinal football brings together old generations of Cardinals and new,” he said. “It’s always great to see the wealth of knowledge exchanged, whether it be over a hot dog or an awesome play seen on the field. The sense of community at SVSU is so strong and thriving.”

Joy Bonke, communication coordinator of National Residence
Hall Honorary and professional and technical writing junior, said NRHH members have fun serving the community during their pancake breakfast event.

“NRHH members had fun bonding and serving the community while flipping pancakes and serving families,” Bonke said. “The breakfast was a great way for families to see our campus before one of the last home games, and for students to spend quality time with their families.”

Shoenmeyer said Family Weekend showed how much SVSU cares about its students and invests in students’ families.

“SVSU is a campus that not only cares about their students but understands that their families are just as invested in their students’ college experience as they are,” Shoenmeyer said.

He said the event was a good way for students to show their families what their lives at SVSU are like.

“We think that it positively impacts our campus climate to host families for a weekend on campus to help them feel just as much a part of SVSU as their student,” he said.

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