First-year astrophysics student Anastasia Gamick is looking forward to seeing her mom this weekend.
“My mom’s really cool,” Gamick said. “I love to see her.”
This weekend, Gamick’s mother ““ along with family members of many other UCLA students ““ will have an opportunity to see her child and catch a glimpse into life at UCLA as part of the school’s Parents’ Weekend.
The event, which begins Friday morning and ends midday Sunday, consists of speeches by UCLA administrators, including Chancellor Gene Block; undergraduate faculty presentations; and a trip for parents to the Rose Bowl to watch the football game against UC Berkeley’s Golden Bears.
Rhea Turteltaub, interim vice chancellor of external affairs, said the purpose of Parents’ Weekend is to give students’ relatives a chance to experience the university for themselves.
“It’s an opportunity for us to showcase UCLA for parents,” she said.
Turteltaub said she expects about 3,300 family members to travel from as far as New York to attend the event.
Preparations for Parents’ Weekend begin far in advance, with groups ranging from facilities maintenance to the recreation department working together so that parents can enjoy the campus and the weekend’s events, Turteltaub said.
But some students question whether the event presents parents with a realistic view of student life.
Maggie Yang, a fourth-year economics student, said she has noticed that the inverted fountain near Knudsen Hall is usually only turned on during Parents’ Weekend
“I think that campus is a lot nicer for Parents’ Weekend, and it would be nice if they could keep it up all the time,” Yang said. She added that UCLA Dining Services has been serving better food this week.
But Turteltaub said she thinks parents are being given the same opportunities over the weekend that are available to students.
“Over four years, I don’t think that what we plan for is anything more than students can experience for themselves,” Turteltaub said.
All immediate relatives of students are invited to attend, and each attendee must pay a fee of $50, Turteltaub said. She added that the revenue from this fee does not meet the nearly $500,000 total cost of the event. This cost is paid from the budgets of the various groups involved in the event’s planning, including the Office of External Affairs, Associated Students UCLA, and the UCLA Parents’ Fund.
Turteltaub said the event is worth the cost because it is a “long-term investment” in students and parents.
Yang, who said her parents attended Parents’ Weekend in the past, said her parents were encouraged to donate money to the university.
But Turteltaub said the event is not aimed primarily at fundraising.
“The reason we do parents’ week is to create that lifelong family bond to UCLA,” Turteltaub said.
Linda Petch, a third-year ecology and evolutionary biology student, said she thought Parents’ Weekend was important, particularly for parents who may not have gone to college and would like to know what college life is like.
Turteltaub said a lot of students at UCLA are the first in their family to go to college.
“Their parents are proud and want to share,” she added.
But some students, like fourth-year economics student Benjamin Chulaluxsiriboon, shy away from Parents’ Weekend because they value college as a place where they can be independent from their parents.
“(My first year) I wanted to kind of live and spread my wings a little bit,” he said.
While parents attending the event must arrange for their own housing, they are provided six meals over the weekend, including a choice of breakfast on Sunday at the dining halls in De Neve Commons, Covel Commons or Rieber.
Parents were sold 1,700 tickets to the Bruins’ football game against the Golden Bears, and 20 buses have been arranged to take them to the Rose Bowl, Turteltaub said.