The University of Idaho Argonaut

Every year moms flock to campus to see what their students have been up to

Mom’s Weekend is an opportune time for parents to see what their student is up to and what college life is all about.
Tim Helmke, associate director of events for the Alumni Office and a 1995 University of Idaho graduate, said that in the late 1970s the annual Mom’s Weekend event was changed to Parent’s Weekend.

“The dads had Dad’s Weekend in the fall, and the moms could attend Parent’s Weekend in the spring. They found that a lot of moms would come for Dad’s Weekend, but not vice versa, so it was only fair to give the moms their own weekend,” Helmke said.

In the mid-1990s, Parent’s Weekend was changed back to Mom’s Weekend, and since then, UI families have been traveling each spring to visit their children at college.
“It’s a unique opportunity for moms to come and experience what students are going through,” Helmke said. “They can see where they eat, where they go to class, who their friends are and things like that.”

He said that they track where each student’s parent registers and that it’s pretty evenly split between Greek parents, residence hall parents and off-campus parents. However, while around 500 parents will register for Mom’s Weekend through the Alumni Office, thousands of parents come up for the three days.
Leah Andrews, who is in charge of marketing and recruitment for University Residences, said that there are two main events in the residence halls for Mom’s Weekend.

“Each year we hold a morning tea party or ice cream social on Saturday in one of the Living Learning Community classrooms,” Andrews said. “Last year we had a string quartet come and play for them and it’s a really nice time for the residents to sit down with their moms and chat.”
The other event is the Golden Joes, an awards ceremony that honors excellence and leadership within the living communities.

“With the Golden Joes, students within the residence halls are nominated by their fellow residents for different awards,” Andrews said. “It’s a formal event and it’s neat to bring your mom to the University Auditorium and show her that there’s so much more to the residence halls than sleeping and eating.”
This year’s theme is “Classic Tinsel Town: Wear Your Suit and Gown,” and the students that receive awards get trophies.

Andrews said that Mom’s Weekend is a way of showcasing the living communities both on and off-campus, and that the ways to get involved are different for each group.
Sophomore Kelsi Nagle, who is the national communications coordinator for the Residence Hall Association, said that she had a lot of fun when her mom came to visit last year.

“There were a lot of different activities we could get involved in, and I also received an ASUI Achievement Award and a Golden Joe award, and having my mom there with me made it the biggest thing,” Nagle said.
She said that UI gives parents a chance to get involved with their students’ lives while seeing their achievements.
“My mom thought the weekend was interesting because it wasn’t so much about UI, but more about me, her kid and student,” Nagle said.

Junior Spencer Oldemeyer, Schools LLC hall president, said that his mom really enjoyed coming and meeting his friends, but they decided to do something else.
“My mom’s kind of a tomboy, so we went fishing. My brother is a freshman in the Tower this year, so hopefully we’ll go fishing again,” he said.
Oldemeyer said it’s always nice to see his mother, but bringing her here to visit him is very different than when he goes home to see her.
“She likes being back on a college campus,” he said.

Nancy Oldemeyer, Spencer’s mother, said that when she came to visit her son last year the two of them had a lot of fun.
“I love to fish and I hadn’t explored the area so I brought my fishing gear up with me, did some research, and found this great spot 20 minutes outside Moscow,” she said.
Now that she will be coming not only to visit Spencer, but his younger brother Bryce, she plans on once again going to the Golden Joes and other activities like last year, but hopes they will have time to catch a few fish.

“Bryce plays lacrosse, and I know he has two games, but I’m looking forward to hopefully getting out there and going fishing again,” she said.
Oldemeyer, who went to Oregon State University, said that when she was in college her mom would come visit her for Mom’s Weekend and she knows how important it is.
“When my mom would come see me I’d take her to the coast and we’d have a lot of fun, so it’s nice to do something like that for my boys,” she said.

Junior Danya Nelsen, Panhellenic vice president of public relations, said that when it comes to the Greek community and Mom’s Weekend, each individual chapter does it’s own thing.
“There are a couple chapter’s philanthropies going on during Mom’s Weekend that we always try to get our moms involved in,” she said.
Each year there is the annual Kappa Kappa Gamma Fun Run, the Phi Delta Theta Turtle Derby and this year the Greek community is introducing a new event, the Alpha Phi spaghetti feed.
Nelsen said that those are the more traditional events that are held each year and that any others held within the Greek community are on a chapter-by-chapter basis.
“Generally speaking, chapters plan their own events for Mom’s Weekend,” she said. “A lot of chapters do a brunch, silent auctions, spa days, etc.”

Nelsen said that she thinks Mom’s Weekend is important to UI and the Greek community because it allows moms to come to campus and see how students live on campus.
“It gives us a chance to give our parents, or moms in this case, a better idea of what exactly the Greek system entails by showing them around campus, our houses and getting them involved with philanthropies that take place every year,” she said.
Nelsen is a sophomore at UI, and she said that while her mom didn’t come up for the weekend last year, but she would be visiting this year.

“It’s a nice break to see your family and relax a little before we all get swept up into the end of the year rush and finals,” she said.
Nelsen’s mother, Krystn Nelsen, said that with her visit this year for Mom’s Weekend she’s looking forward to seeing her daughter in her own environment.
Nelsen said she is looking forward to… “Seeing firsthand the life Danya is embracing at UI, where she spends her time, the people she lives and works with…and why it all gives her so much satisfaction.”