Family Weekend has come and gone with plenty of fun for all who visited. The weekend consisted of two days full of events for all ages to enjoy.

This year the theme was “Candyland,” meaning all events were topped off with a buffet of sweets and treats.
This year’s weekend events were organized by MSG with parents and siblings in mind.

Brenna Nelson, a senior Marketing major and current SAC chair, was the main programmer for the two-day event.

Nelson shared her favorite part of the weekend.
“I really appreciated all of the help from the programmers, E-board members and senators. Watching them enjoy themselves and bouncing ideas off of them helped me so much. But most of all seeing the students with their parents, dancing, laughing and interacting with different families was the best part of it all.”

Family Weekend began March 29 when families swarmed the campus REC to experience a night of musical bingo at Candyland Game Night. Everyone was up dancing to the music and battling it out for the bingo prizes, which included movie hampers, Amazon Firesticks, gift cards, T-shirts and lots of candy.
Anyone with the gray long-sleeve Hurst is Home shirt was sure to have conquered the bingo board.

The family fun continued into the next day with an Escape Room challenge in Sullivan 1 that allowed families to go through a mystery simulation to reach the ultimate escape. If they could make it out of the first room in 15 minutes, a second 10-minute challenge awaited.

A Syracuse company set up the entire service and then continued their activities into the night.
To conclude Family Weekend, they flipped the switch to cover the REC in darkness and set the stage for laser tag.

Aside from these activities, the MAC/SAC team created interactive activities in the Student Union Great Room, such as cornhole, board games, inflatable jousting and giant Jenga. For snacks, the candy buffet was carried over from the previous night along with pizza, chips and dips.

Between the two events of Saturday, many families took advantage of our brand-new eatery. Families packed the tables of The Roost, enjoying the nearby “restaurant” of our campus.

While walking through the Family Weekend events, it was clear everyone was enjoying themselves.
Katie Simson, the mother of Grace Simson, a junior Music Therapy major, is someone who attends this weekend every year.

“I loved spending time with my daughter and her friends while they worked the events for Family Weekend. Their love and dedication for the school shows in everything they do. I am a very proud Mercyhurst Mother,” Katie Simson said.

The weekend was a success in the eyes of everyone who attended. The fun will continue once again this coming academic year with a new head programmer in charge.

Braeden Barnett, a sophomore English major and newly appointed SAC chair, will take the lead.

“This was a wonderful weekend for the school community,” Barnett said. “I think it is very important to look back and see what worked well and try to continue that while also making the weekend my own. This will be an especially hard Family Weekend to follow because of its massive success. I definitely am looking to use the vendors we had again but maybe with some different events to add my own element and twist to the weekend.”