While our parents being in town is probably the best part about Parents Weekend at Hillsdale College, it’s not what makes this time so important. Most colleges have a parents weekend, and most students’ parents will visit their school at some point during their college career.
Being treated to dinner by your mom and dad is good. What makes Hillsdale’s Parents Weekend unique, however, is the way it highlights the value of the parents’ role in each student’s education by promoting a transparent parent-student relationship.
Most universities don’t allow parents to see their child’s grades. At Hillsdale, professors and parents meet and talk like friends, recognizing the partnership that is essential to a good education.
Some may argue that Hillsdale’s parent-professor conferences make it feel a little like grade school, and you should have the autonomy as a college student to not have your parents looking over your shoulder. But parent-professor conferences show that the college is invested in the partnership that it claims to value: the partnership between parents, students, and professors.
Education is a partnership, and parents are an important part of that. It’s a way of practicing what we preach.
So don’t beg your parents not to go to their conferences with your professors. Instead, value the advice and input that your professor will share with your parents about how you can improve. This is the true benefit of Parents Weekend.
