Parents and Family Weekend 2018 Creates Shared Experiences
Washington and Lee held Parents and Family Weekend Sept. 28–29, 2018, welcoming more than 800 families (close to 3,000 people) to campus for the event. Parents and Family Weekend offers an opportunity for students to connect on campus with their parents and family members, sharing their full college experience by immersing them in W&L’s unique culture. Families attend sporting events, concerts, art exhibits, and even classes together. This year, the History of W&L course was a popular choice, and professors shared that all parents in attendance were enthusiastic participants.
Students and their families also had the opportunity to participate in a social media contest by following the university’s Annual Fund on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Families who followed any of these accounts and posted a picture of themselves on campus were entered to win a $25 gift card to downtown Lexington café Pronto. Kitanna Hiromasa ’19 and her parents, Shannon and James, were the lucky winners.
Parents and Family Weekend also provides a perfect occasion for leadership parent donors and prospects to come together to build connections, as well as participate in gatherings with the president and other university officials. The Parents Leadership Council and the PLC Steering Committee are groups of parents who generously support the Parents Fund as well as work to build relationships among W&L families, host regional events for student and parents, and welcome new families each summer. Parents Fund Chairs Kamela and Steve Krouskos P’16, ’17, ’21 were on campus for the Parents Leadership Council events to welcome new and returning members. The council has 186 members and welcomed 38 new members who have a student in the Class of 2022. The PLC Steering Committee has 43 members to date, and more than 60 percent were on campus for the weekend festivities.
“Members of The President’s Society, Parents Leadership Council and PLC Steering Committee all contribute significantly to the Parents Fund and have helped us achieve record-setting results for seven years running,” said Ronni Gardner, director of parent giving. In 2017-18, donors contributed $1,812,199 to the Parents Fund. This year’s goal is $1.85 million. The Parents Fund is an important component of W&L’s Annual Fund, which supports the university’s top priorities each year.
W&L will welcome members of the Parents Leadership Council back to campus for the Parents Leadership Council Spring Weekend March 29 – 30, 2019.
All gifts to the Parents Fund make a difference for every W&L student. To make your gift, visit support.wlu.edu/giveonline.
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