Texas A&By Elena Watts, Texas A&M Marketing and Communications
COLLEGE STATION, March 23, 2016 – Family Weekend, formerly known as Parents’ Weekend, an annual spring celebration honoring Aggie families since 1919, is Friday through Sunday, April 7-9, at Texas A&M University.
This year, families can shop for gifts at the Aggie Moms’ Boutique, enjoy performances by the Singing Cadets and the Freudian Slip Improv Comedy Troupe, participate in the festivities of Aggie Ring Day, and experience the warmth and camaraderie fostered by student organizations at a dinner, 5K run and panel discussion, among numerous other offerings. Visit the Family Weekend website for a complete list of events as well as opportunities to purchase tickets and reserve space when necessary.
The Aggie Moms’ Boutique, hosted by the Federation of Texas A&M University Mothers’ Club, is historically one of the weekend’s most popular events. The gift-and-craft fair is open Friday, April 7, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Saturday, April 8, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., on the second level of the Memorial Student Center. The Moms’ Club, which was established in 1928, is the only one of its kind in the nation with such a large membership—6,650 mothers belonging to 110 clubs across Texas and elsewhere in the nation—that raises funds for student organizations and scholarships that support students at the university.
Of course, nothing compares to the excitement generated by Aggie Ring Day, which happens during Family Weekend so that parents and other family members and friends can celebrate the milestone with their Aggies. More than 6,200 students eagerly descend on the Clayton W. Williams, Jr. Alumni Center, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m.-noon on Saturday, to collect their long-awaited Aggie Rings. Meanwhile, the Family Weekend Committee is hosting a picnic in Spence Park where they plan to provide those who are making their way to Ring Day with bottles of water, popcorn and ample photo opportunities. The day of celebration includes Aggie Ring polishing by Career Center representatives, art print signing by Benjamin Knox ’90, free samples of Slovacek’s Sausage, opportunities to purchase official Ring Day T-shirts, and a myriad of photo ops.
With Texas A&M Rec Sports, the Family Weekend Committee also is hosting Aggie Family Game Night, 6:30-9 p.m. on Friday, in the Student Recreation Center. Performances by student organizations, a DJ spinning tunes, board games, dominoes and bingo, among other activities, are sure to provide a festive evening for Aggies, their family members and their friends.
Friday night concludes with a 10 p.m. Yell Practice at Kyle Field. The almost 90-year-old tradition that precedes football games and involves a sea of maroon-clad fans swaying arm-in-arm, side-to-side in their stadium seats to the Aggie War Hymn is the ultimate expression of Aggie spirit and spunk. This year’s “Aggie Parents of the Year,” Rodney and Shelly Moss, are to be recognized officially at this event that kicks off their reign.
Sporting events during the weekend include the Texas A&M Spring Football Game set for 1 p.m. on Saturday at Kyle Field and three women’s tennis games including Friday’s match against Vanderbilt at 4 p.m. and Sunday’s matches versus Kentucky and Prairie View A&M at noon and 5 p.m., respectively, at Mitchell Tennis Center. Two three-day SEC game series featuring baseball at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park and softball at the Aggie Softball Complex are also on the agenda. The Aggie baseball team is squaring off against Auburn on all three days, beginning with a 6:30 p.m. game on Friday. The Aggie softball team is playing Oklahoma State all weekend with the first of three games starting at 6 p.m. on Friday.
On Saturday, the Aggies Abroad Breakfast, which is happening in the Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building (ILSB), 8-10 a.m., aims to provide information about students’ opportunities to expand their university experiences by studying in other areas of the world. Later, the fun and informal LAUNCH Honors Brunch is served on the lawn of the ILSB, 9-11:30 a.m., for students and their families interested in learning about honors courses, co-curricular enrichment activities and research programs. The same morning, guests can visit the Mays Business School Open House in the Wehner Building Lobby, 9-10:30 a.m., to learn about its many outstanding offerings; they can tour the College of Nursing’s classrooms and simulation center, 10 a.m.-noon; and they can drop by the Vice President’s Residence, also 10 a.m.-noon, on Throckmorton Street.
The Chabad Jewish Student Center is hosting the Family Weekend Shabbat Dinner at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Activities planned by student organizations include the 32nd Annual Rock the Casa 5K organized by the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority that begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday and a bilingual panel discussion featuring Texas A&M faculty presented by the Hispanic Presidents’ Council in the ILSB, 3-6 p.m., on Sunday.
The Corps of Cadets is planning several activities during the weekend, including performances by the Ross Volunteer Company, the Fish Drill Team and the Parsons Mounted Cavalry, which begin at 12:45 p.m. at Simpson Drill Field and 2 p.m. at Freeman Arena on Saturday.
Later Saturday, guests can catch an entertaining show performed by The Freudian Slip Improv Comedy Troupe at 7 p.m. in Rudder Forum, or they can enjoy the annual Texas A&M Singing Cadets Spring Concert at 7:30 p.m. in Rudder Auditorium.
Throughout the weekend, awards ceremonies, hosted by Who’s Who, the Corps of Cadets, Aggie Bands, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, and The Association of Former Students, will shine well-deserved recognition on Aggie students for various accomplishments including leadership, teamwork, service, campus involvement and academic achievement.
The Barnes and Noble Bookstore in the Memorial Student Center is offering extended hours, Friday, 8 a.m.-10 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m.- 6 p.m., for families in search of Aggie merchandise—particularly the official Family Weekend T-shirt.
Off campus, the Downtown Bryan Street and Art Fair provides families with the chance to tour historical blocks full of shops and restaurants in the midst of artists and artisans peddling their handmade goods, live musical entertainment and street performers, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., on Saturday. The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum and the University Art Galleries are also open to visitors for the weekend.