Banner for Family Weekend.
@MANHATTANEDU / INSTAGRAM
Misha Jabal-Abadi, Production Editor
Manhattan University’s (MU) legacy event, Family Weekend, took place Sept. 25 to Sept. 26. This year’s event centered on MU’s Lasallian heritage and values by opening its activities to staff, administration and faculty in addition to students and their families.
Family Weekend gives families a chance to see how their students are adjusting to campus, while also showcasing how the MU community comes together. All students were invited to participate in the weekend’s events regardless of whether their families were in attendance.
Antoine Orr, assistant director of wellness and recreation and head coach for club basketball, shared with The Quadrangle that the weekend gives students a chance to step outside the classroom and connect with the broader community.
“It’s an opportunity to put the books down, meet new people, share stories, get familiar with what’s happening currently and what the first two weeks have been like for someone who’s a freshman or a transfer student,” Orr said.
Through careful planning and collaboration, the team behind this year’s Family Weekend worked to bring student families closer to the Jasper community.
Nicole Brosnan, director of student engagement, noted that the weekend allows staff and faculty to meet with students’ families and show them how their children are growing within the campus community.
“Let them know that we appreciate them and we understand it can be scary trusting us to have your students here,” Brosnan said. “We want to make sure that you could see that they’re doing well here and they’re thriving and they’re having a good time.”
Kristell Lowe, vice president of student life, shared that the weekend also gives students a chance to show their families the community they’ve become part of and the work they’ve done since the start of the school year.
“Family weekend is about appreciation for your family unit, for what your family has done for you to be able to attend college, and you know, maybe live on campus or anything,” Lowe said.
Lowe has led much of the planning behind this year’s activities, working with other staff members to grow Family Weekend into an event the wider community can enjoy. As part of an effort to tie legacy events more closely to MU’s Lasallian roots, organizers built a community service component into this year’s schedule. Following breakfast with Frederick Bonato, MU’s president, a florist was invited to lead a flower-arranging activity, with the arrangements donated to the Methodist Home and Waldo Sanctuary.
“I really think people want to do good for others, so let’s give them an opportunity,” Lowe said. “Our activity, which is right after the breakfast and the pancakes with Bonato, the activity is [where] the floral designer is going to give some tips and rules on how to arrange a beautiful flower arrangement. Each family that wants to participate is going to be able to make an arrangement in a creative way.”
Planning a legacy event of this scale takes time and coordination, and organizers thanked everyone involved in bringing this year’s Family Weekend together. The Jasper community invites all students to take part in future events and continue building on that spirit.