Penn State Parents & Families Weekend 2021

Story posted October 13, 2021 in CommRadio, News by Emma Aken

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – This past weekend, Oct. 8 - 10, parents and families of University Park students were invited for the annual Penn State parents weekend.

There were over 80 events throughout Friday, Saturday and Sunday, including a welcome breakfast reception, open house of the president’s office, theater performances, an ice cream social at the Creamery and family pictures at the Nittany Lion shrine.

Other experiences included behind-the-scenes tours of Old Main and Beaver Stadium, which are not typically offered to guests and families.

There were also many sporting events for students and parents to attend, such as women’s ice hockey, men’s ice hockey, women’s volleyball and men’s soccer.

Laney Azenberger, a second-year, shared that her parents drove around seven hours from her home in Connecticut to visit her over the weekend.

“It was so fun seeing my family this weekend,” Azenberger said. “I hadn’t seen them for over a month.”

Azenberger was excited that her parents got to meet her friends, take her out to dinner and make more memories with her at Penn State. This was the second year in a row that her family visited for parents weekend, but last year many events were virtual.

A student who helped show parents around over the weekend shared that her favorite part of parents weekend was seeing parents that did not go to Penn State for their college experience.

“It was cool to see a lot of the parents coming out and supporting not just their kids but their kids’ peers,” she said. “They asked a lot of questions and they were really involved.”

The university held a housing fair for students and families to explore future living options and gain information from property managers, local landlords and campus housing staff.

Penn State intentionally hosts parents weekend on a weekend without a home football game in order to have enough lodging and accommodations for families and so that everyone can take full advantage of the events offered.

It has not yet been determined when Penn State’s parents weekend will be for the 2022 school year.

 

Emma Aken is a second-year majoring in journalism. To contact her, email ena5119@psu.edu.