If you’ve been on campus today, you may have seen groups of parents wandering around. Then you’ve realized that these groups of parents are particularly large, and that not all of them have kids with them. Plus, it’s a chilly weekend to be taking college tours, so what gives?

Yes, it’s that long-forgotten first-year ritual of Parents Weekend, which is the same weekend as Homecoming each year. Nervous parents of first-years travel to campus “just to check in” on their darlings in the big city, and each year, it’s only the parents of first-years who come. If you are confronted by these bands of parents, Bwog reminds you that they are mostly harmless: answer their questions politely and try not to mention fake IDs or beer pong tournaments—it’ll only upset them. 

The most important reason we mention this, though, is that there will be receptions for the parents in Lerner Hall and elsewhere. The appetizers there are often really good, and really free.