Rice University hosted Families Weekend Sept. 27-28, and over the course of the 48-hour period, parents, families and loved ones got an inside look at the unique Rice experience through engaging lectures, campus tours, a family tailgate for the Owls’ football game and much more.
Every journey at Rice is deeply rooted in the university’s culture of care, a spirit that fills the campus and warmly welcomes parents from near and far.
During the weekend, President Reginald DesRoches personally welcomed visitors to campus.
“I hope you get a sense of the way that we embrace our students,” he said. “Having been a parent of a ‘23 [Rice] graduate, there's no place that does it better than Rice. The way the students respect each other and look out for each other, the way the faculty and staff look out for the students, it is like a [second] family.”
Jim Taylor traveled from Nashville, Tennessee, to visit his son Connor, a Hanszen College senior majoring in business. He articulated the mixed emotions of what it is like to watch his child move away and start his journey as an adult.
“You’re very excited for them, but you’re also missing them, so it’s a bittersweet experience and also exciting,” Jim Taylor said. “You understand that they’re moving forward and becoming independent humans.”
The elder Taylor says one component has made the transition easier for the family — staying in contact.
“We try our best to keep in touch,” he said. “We try to do weekly family Zooms to talk. Even the cats are involved! We just try to be in touch and want him to let us know if he needs something, but also to let us know if we’re interfering. This is our time to recognize that he has his own voice now.”
For the Taylors, Families Weekend offers a welcome opportunity to shake off the “empty nest” feeling that comes with their child moving two states away. Similarly, for bioengineering major Hamza Saeed, those same emotions can arise even with family just 20 minutes away in Sugar Land.
“Families Weekend is a great experience, and I think it’s a really important event held by the university,” Saeed said about his experience. “Naturally, we all want our parents to be involved and know what’s going on around campus. Families Weekend allows us to show them in person what it is we’re up to, all the exciting stuff we’re doing and all the opportunities we get to encounter by being Rice students.”
Saeed said he is also hopeful that some of his experiences will rub off on his younger siblings, who were also in attendance.
“I was really excited to show my siblings as potential Rice Owls a little bit of what a day in the life could look like,” he said. “I have one brother who is soon to be a high school senior, and the other one still has a while to go before college, but still, I think it’s nice to immerse him in the academic experiences Rice offers and see the opportunities that could be available if they keep on working hard and meeting that standard that we’ve set here at Rice.”
Throughout the weekend, parents had numerous opportunities to immerse themselves in the Rice experience. They participated in conversations and Q&A sessions with college deans, the provost, and the president, enjoyed a lively tailgate, and attended a Rice Owl football game.
