There is one weekend at Cabrini when students, parents and alumni are valued for being such a contributing factor to the greatness of Cabrini College. That weekend is family weekend.
Family weekend is designed to bring in families from all over to spend time with their loved ones that are a part of the Cabrini community and join in on the activities that are offered.
A whole entire weekend is dedicated to families and students. Activities started on Friday, Sept. 25 and ended Sunday, Sept. 26.
The center for student engagement and leadership plan most of the events and activities on campus.
“We organize the general schedule. There usually is a really good turn out because it’s a good opportunity for the parents to come and visit the students,” Amber LaJeunesse, assistant director of the center for student engagement and leadership, said. “There are usually only minor changes to the itinerary each year. This is the first time we’re doing bingo. In the past we’ve had a mind reader. Most things stay the same, especially the mystery dinner. We’ve done that every year however there is limited space.”
“Family weekend is a really good event to enjoy the beauty of our campus in the fall. You get the taste of what the students are experiencing in their home away from home,” LaJeunesse said.
The events that were held on Friday, Sept. 4 included the athletic hall of fame induction form 6-9 p.m., the ice cream social from 7-8 p.m. and ending the night by having a family movie night, toy story 3 starting at 8 p.m.
Saturday was the main day for all of the events. There was the honors convocation from 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. and the women’s field hockey game at 11 a.m. The family activities and campus picnic started at 11 a.m. and ended around 2 p.m and later on in the night was the clue mystery dinner, followed by bingo.
“I helped with the sound system and music for the mystery dinner for all the Cabrini families,” Aisling Carroll, senior business major, CAP board weekend programmer and director and student worker in SEaL, said.
“I really like the dinner besides the fact that good food is served. It gets every family involved because during the dinner everyone is a character. People are either a suspect or a murderer, Carroll said. “I think this year was a really good turn out. Right after dinner was bingo. I personally did not attend but I saw the room was packed.”
Exciting family activities included a magician, caricaturists and big chair photos. At the picnic you’re able to enjoy great food and listen to live music from the Greater Kensington String Band, which is also known as the “Mummers.”
“At first my family and I started off at the honors convocation. I earned an award for making the dean’s list. We went to the field hockey game after that. I used to play field hockey and I loved it. The crowd was amazing. All the fans had so much spirit and enthusiasm,” Carol Ann Porter, sophomore elementary education major, said.
This is Porter’s and her family’s first time attending family weekend. Her family decided that it would be the perfect weekend to come and visit.
The women’s field hockey team played against Marywood and won 2-1 in over time.
“This is the second time my parents have visited during family weekend. They came last year but were going to come anyway this weekend because of my field hockey game,” Katie Solewin, sophomore psychology major, said.
“There were so many fans during the game. Last year there weren’t as much, so it was really nice to have the families cheer us on. It was getting all the players really pumped up,” Solewin said.
For some, this was the first time attending family weekend or the second. However this is not the case for Matthew Casazza. Casazza will be the seventh family member graduating from Cabrini. Both of his parents graduated from Cabrini, his father’s brother and his wife, his mother’s sister and Matthew’s brother Anthony Casazza, who graduated this past May.
So it is safe to say that the Casazzas’ know about family weekend like the back of their hand.
“Cabrini is just so comfortable to us, it’s like home. We recently just had our 25th reunion. However, there was a rather dismal crowd,” Tony Casazza, Cabrini graduate of ’84 and Matthew’s father said. “We’ve been involved in the alumni association. It is our goal to try and get past alumni more involved with the activities at Cabrini.”
“We’ve enjoyed the band and the lunch so far. We really enjoy seeing the Cabrini families. We love that the president is friendly and comes around to say hi to everyone. It makes it so much more personal,” Kathleen Casazza said.
Matthew Casazza enjoys having his parents come to Cabrini to visit him. It’s a big part of his life because it is like tradition.
This active weekend ended with a mass at 11 a.m. in the chapel followed by a brunch on Sunday, Sept. 26. Later on during the day was the kite festival.
For freshmen Ali May, this was her and her parents first time attending family weekend. “I really enjoy my parents being here. Not only to just see the campus but to introduce them to my life at Cabrini,” May, freshman criminology major, said.
“Our favorite part was the picnic. It is very family oriented. You can actually sit down and relax and at the same time meet nice people,” Jim May, Ali May’s father, said. “We will absolutely come back next year. It really is so nice to watch the sports and check out the campus and chapel. Family weekend gives you a chance to see things that you might have missed before,” Jim May said.
Cabrini College doesn’t just acknowledge the students but everyone in the entire Cabrini community gets acknowledged. Through out the years the faculty members of Cabrini has put together a very enjoyable family weekend. It reassures the parents that by sending their child to Cabrini, they made the right decision.
“My family and I will definitely come back next year. It was really nice and a lot of fun. My sister even got to dance with one of the Mummers while they were playing. We missed the ice cream social, so we hope to do that next year, Porter said.”
