Despite many campus events being canceled or postponed due to COVID-19, Parents’ Weekend is still set to take place Oct. 16-18.
As of Wednesday, there are 11 active positive cases of coronavirus on campus and 129 students are currently in isolation. Four additional students have COVID-19 symptoms and are awaiting test results. The rise in cases caused the Student Activities Board to cancel Garden Party, originally set for this Friday, and Carnival in the Arb, which was set to replace Garden Party.
But Cheryl Clawson, executive assistant to the director of parent relations, said the college does not intend to cancel Parents’ Weekend programming.
“We are still holding Parents’ Weekend per the directive of senior staff,” Clawson said.
Clawson said the college is taking precautions to ensure a safe weekend. Attendees will have their temperature checked before entering any events throughout the weekend, and no student club tables will be allowed during the parent-teacher conferences. Students will be allowed to attend both the mixer and luncheon, but the events will take place in different venues than usual.
“We have been moving our events to locations that can accommodate larger groups for social distancing such as the mixer and lunch in Biermann,” Clawson said.
Similarly, the President’s Club reception, usually at Broadlawn, will be held in the McNamara Recital Hall. The parent phonathon will remain in the Call Center as usual, as it is equipped for social distancing.
“We have 17 parent callers,” Clawson said. “The new executive order as of last week will allow 20 people indoors for groups.”
Paul Esposito, president of Delta Tau Delta, said his fraternity usually holds an event for parents to see the house and meet the brothers each Parents’ Weekend. But this year, he said he isn’t sure if the group will hold the event.
“The difficulty is not only COVID, but whether the number of parents coming would justify the event,” Esposito said. “There are some parents who haven’t even decided if they’re coming to Parents Weekend, which complicates the planning further.”
Even with the uncertainty about how many parents will be attending, the college does not intend to delay Parents’ Weekend.
“We have no plans to change the date to a later time,” Clawson said.
