The Mountaineer Parents Club will welcome thousands of families of West Virginia University students to campus starting tomorrow (Oct. 2) for the annual Fall Family Weekend.

This year’s schedule includes an exciting roster of new events to connect families to the WVU campus, the greater Morgantown community and the Mountaineer culture—and most importantly, to reconnect them with their students.

“Fall Family Weekend is such an exciting time at WVU,” said Sabrina Cave, executive director of the Mountaineer Parents Club. “Our Mountaineer families bring so much energy to our campus; we look forward to welcoming them with new events where they can spend time with their students and enjoy the fellowship and support of the WVU community and other parents.”

This weekend’s festivities feature an experience that will connect parents with President Gee himself over a hearty breakfast at the inaugural ‘Pancakes, Parents and the President’ event for families only. It will be held at the Morgantown Event Center Saturday morning (Oct. 3) at 8:15 a.m.

President Gee will share information about WVU and interface with parents through a question-and-answer session.

Registered families should save some of their appetite for hot dogs, as the ‘Fans and Franks’ event will give students and their families the opportunity to cheer on the WVU Football team against Oklahoma at noon at a watch party in the Mountainlair Ballrooms with food, games and giveaways as part of the fourth annual Mountaineer Nation Day. A total of 693 watch parties are registered, including all 50 states plus Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., and 15 countries with 25 different international parties. Families attending watch parties are encouraged to tweet with the hashtag #WVUMND.

Doors open at 11 a.m. for the noon kickoff between the Mountaineers and Sooners. – See more at: http://wvutoday.wvu.edu/n/2015/10/01/wvu-fans-across-the-world-will-celebrate-mountaineer-nation-day-on-saturday#sthash.jJApwGk9.dpuf

While registration is full for the ‘Pancakes, Parents and the President’ and “Fans and Franks’ events, parents who haven’t registered and want to make the trip to Morgantown are encouraged to attend a host of additional activities.

A welcome reception will be held tomorrow (Oct. 2) from 4 to 7:30 p.m. in the Vandalia Lounge of the Mountainlair where representatives from various WVU units, such as Housing and Residence Life, Student Success, WELLWVU and others will be on hand to answer questions.

Events have also been scheduled for families eager to explore the greater Morgantown community. On Friday, the annual ‘Art is Food’ event, a collaborative effort between the Mountaineer Parents Club and Main Street Morgantown, will be located at the corner of Fayette and Spruce streets from 5 to 7 p.m. The cost is $15 per person and includes samplings of food from Morgantown eateries provided through the Downtown Morgantown Restaurant Association. Tickets can be purchased here.

Families venturing downtown on Friday can also enjoy the ArtsWalk, sponsored by Main Street Morgantown, Monongalia Art Center and Arts Monongahela. Families can stroll through more than 40 downtown businesses and see works of art from local artists from 6 to 9 p.m.

Parents are encouraged to enjoy a free breakfast with their students on Sunday morning in the residence hall dining halls. They can also use the Student Recreation Center for free all weekend and attend the WVUp All Night events on Friday and Saturday evenings and the Mountaineer Idol event on Friday evening.

Families with Mountaineer sports fans can take in the top-five ranked WVU Women’s Soccer team as they play TCU Friday evening at the Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium at 7 p.m.

A detailed schedule for Fall Family Weekend can be referenced here.

The Mountaineer Parents Club is an organization designed to support WVU families and students. For more information about the Parents Club, visit http://parentsclub.wvu.edu/.

-WVU-

hr/10/01/15

CONTACT: Sabrina Cave, Student Life
304.293.2506, Sabrina.Cave@mail.wvu.edu

Follow @WVUToday on Twitter.