Opinion: NYU Should Have More Than One Parents Weekend

by Molly Koch

This story was originally published on New York University’s Washington Square News.

In case you missed it, this past weekend was NYU’s annual Alumni and Parents Weekend. From Oct. 20-23, NYU welcomed student families to campus and celebrated its extensive alumni network — the largest of any private university. It offered reunion celebrations, faculty lectures, parent welcome gatherings and updates from President Andrew Hamilton. But is one parent weekend a year enough? 

Parents weekend is supposed to be relaxing and a chance to regain some mental stability. But NYU is currently in its midterm season, which is not exactly great timing to be hanging out with parents. Many students have to scramble to make time for both studying and visiting with their families. With more opportunities for parents to officially visit campus, students may spend less time studying and more time being tour guides for their families.

NYU also prides itself on being a global university — which means that some parents live abroad too, and they can’t come to campus on a whim. Flights are only cheap when booked months in advance, but those ticket prices skyrocket the later they are booked. That doesn’t look too good for parents — especially on top of the hefty tuition they’re already paying. Many international students and students from out of state were not able to see their families this weekend. If NYU provided more opportunities for families to visit, there would be a higher chance families could actually come visit. 

Read the rest of the story at Washington Square News.