This weekend, St. Bonaventure will host Family Weekend, an event filled with food and games. From Sept. 25 to 27, the campus will host its annual celebration, inviting parents and family members to campus.
Family Weekend was created to unite students with family members after the first few stressful weeks of the school year and to help make parents and family members feel at home in the Bonaventure community.
From athletic competitions to family-oriented games and activities, the weekend will have a surplus of events, each highlighting a characteristic of the school community.
According to the Bonaventure website, the weekend will start off with the women’s swimming and diving team’s Polar Spray, a fundraiser for Special Olympics of New York.
The rest of Friday evening focuses on Family Fun Night, where there will be lawn games, s’mores and games in the Rathskeller. Students and parents also have the option to attend a Buffalo Chamber Players performance in the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, according to Abby Cohen, the associate director of Intramurals, Club Sports and Student Engagement.
Saturday’s festivities are aimed at families who want to experience campus life in a fast-paced manner, said Cohen.
The morning starts off with free Family Weekend golf at the St. Bonaventure University Golf Course. Students and their families can also participate in the Family Fun 2.5-mile Run/Walk along the Allegheny River Valley Trail. Both women’s and men’s club soccer and rugby have games on Saturday, catering to families who want to experience athletic events.
On Saturday, the Career and Professional Readiness Center and the Admissions Office are both offering sessions for prospective students and their family members. These sessions are designed to inform students and families about the professional development resources available on campus, said Cohen.
Saturday afternoon concludes with a 4:30 p.m. Mass in the University Chapel, followed by Family Feud, sponsored by the Campus Activities Board.
The main event of the weekend, the 11th annual Bonagany Celebration will also take place this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Bonagany was created to help students become better acquainted with the local community and to promote university and community relations, said Cohen.
Cohen said the event has come a long way in the past decade.
“I have only been involved in planning Bonagany for the past three years, but it’s easy to see how much it’s changed since I was a student,” Cohen said.
Along with the Campus Activities Board, Cohen works to provide both students and parents with different and innovative activities to provide a variety of different experiences, catering to different types of students and families.
Although Bonagany is the main event of the weekend, many students are eager for their parents to experience everyday campus life.
“The best thing about Family Weekend last year was getting to show my family how much fun we have at Bona’s,” said Maddy McDonald, a sophomore accounting major. “My family lives five hours away so when they come for Family Weekend, they get to see what it’s really like out here. My parents loved going to the Rathskeller. They really enjoyed the atmosphere and being in such a small, intimate area made them feel more connected to the school community”.
Students said they are also excited to show their parents some of the local hot spots.
“My family isn’t coming until next weekend, but I’m really excited to take them to Sprauges [a family-owned restaurant specializing in maple-based items],” Tim Rooney, a sophomore chemistry major, said.
Rooney said he believes Family Weekend changes the environment on campus and causes a lot of the student body to become more relaxed.
rootcm14@bonaventure.edu
