<p>A new parent here. </p>
<p>We were considering staying in Providence through Tuesday to attend the Opening Convocation, but I gather from the web site, they want parents gone after Sunday. Would appreciate any insight. Thanks </p>
<p>We left on the day brown specified. My son told us that he didn’t notice any parents at convocation. </p>
<p>So parents typically don’t watch the procession of incoming students through the Van Wickle Gates? </p>
<p>Its only June and the helicopters are already revving up. </p>
<p>@arwarw, parents don’t watch the procession bc they leave a few days before. And really, the kids just want to start their college lives sans their parents. You’ll see her walk out of the gate when she graduates.
Brown does film the entrance and you’ll have fun watching it on YouTube and trying to find your kid in the crowd. I downloaded the video so I could keep it for my son.
Just FYI, once the parent part of orientation was over, it became very obvious that my son and the other kids in the dorm wanted to be left alone so that they could acclimate and make friends. They need that time & space before classes begin. Wisely, brown asks parents to leave.</p>
<p>Jeez, I hope I didn’t come across as too much of a helicopter parent. I’m just trying to plan the weekend to get the most out of our visit to Brown. It’s a long trip for us and may be our only one until graduation.</p>
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<p>No, you won’t. There is no room for 3000+ parents/siblings/friends to watch the graduates walk through the Van Wickle gate at commencement. </p>
<p>Parents don’t go to convocation. Period.</p>
<p>My advice, if you want to spend some time with your kid at Brown, is to get there before move-in weekend. Stay in a hotel with your kid for a day or two, do some shopping, explore the campus, take a visit to Newport. For the vast majority of kids, once they move into their room, they want to hang out with their roommates and hall mates – and Brown has lots of activities scheduled that keep them busy. Once our daughter moved in, we hardly saw her again. We took her shopping list and went off to Target/BBB/etc., while she unpacked and met people. </p>
<p>Because of Brown wanting parents gone right away I didn’t even go for move in because I was on the opposite coast. I just came later when she would have time for me. I think I went one spring break and I could walk around campus and we explored Providence a bit, and Newport too. </p>
<p>@arwarw , I’m going to present a differing view. I would not have missed getting the photo of DS walking through that gate for anything in the world! He will only walk through it twice. I stayed for four days, though I only rarely saw DS. I made runs with half the kids on his dorm floor to pick up groceries, Wal-Mart items, etc (because most of their parents had not come to help–many were Int’l-- or left the day after check-in.) I explored Providence and the surrounding areas to give DS a lay of the land. I made my flight reservation for 5 PM the day of Opening Convocation. I saw DS for about 3 minutes that day–just while he and his friends were posing for me as they walked through the gate, and then when I met him at convocation (at the back of where the chairs were set up) to hug him and tell him “Goodbye”. I did not stay for convocation, though some parents did. NO REGRETS about staying! There were quite a few parents there who did the same thing. There were more parents, though, who had kids who had gone to Brown UG and hadn’t gotten that “through the gates” shot freshman year, and were determined not to make the same mistake as their now-Grad students walked through to start grad school.</p>
<p>I met several parents around campus and town who had, reluctantly, followed the standard procedure and booked flights to leave before Convocation. I met their children, got their emails, somehow managed to pick their kids out of the melee’ (granted, they were told to look for me, too, and did so), and sent their parents the pics. They were grateful I had stayed. I stood in the rain for over an hour to make sure I was at the front of the rope line, but it was all worth it to have the pics of DS and his friends (some new, some old) coming through the gates. As I said, I didn’t hang out in the dorms, and only came running with the car when my son called, but I would do it all again to have those precious photos of those happy, excited freshmen walking through the gates. :)</p>
<p>Thank you @happykidsmom
I’m afraid if I share your post with my wife, I’ll be waiting at that rope line rain or shine. </p>
<p>Possibly, @arwarw . However, you’ll also have amazing photos of that once-in-a-lifetime moment. Tricky… ;)</p>
<p>Now I’m conflicted! I’m close enough that I can pop down for Convocation to watch DD walk thru the gates so maybe I will to get the picture! I’m not sure she’ll want me to but I’d hate to miss it, especially as she’s following a long line of relatives who have done the same thing (4th generation!) Guess I’ll play it by ear and see how she feels about it. She doesn’t have to see me that day - just look for my camera :)</p>
<p>Exactly, @akmom124 . I always tell my kids that one day, they’ll thank me, though they don’t usually seem to mind as long as I don’t keep them standing around for more than a minute or so. DS had already made friends with the kids on his hall, and I had taken half of them on errand runs by then, plus DS had several friends he had known since childhood who were also in the class. All of them smiled for the camera, and none of them complained to DS about his obnoxious mother. 
There were probably 150-200 other people with cameras behind the rope line with me, so you won’t be a desperate outlier. Just make sure you get there an hour ahead of time to claim your spot for the best shot of the gate. I stood just slightly to my left of center. If you are directly in front of the gate, it’s hard to get the students and the gate in the shot, and they walk to the left of the gate after they come through.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I was there at the Opening Convocation to video-tape my S :)) coming through the Gate. It’s a once life-time event (coming in@freshman, going out@graduation) that we don’t want to miss. It was sunny hot & humid, at least no rain. There were other parents/families there too.</p>
<p>It’s a 3 hour drive to get there, but we had some stuff that can’t fit in the car during moving-in day, so it’s a “good” excuse to go again. </p>
<p>I didn’t go because DD realy didn’t want me to! Oh well! But I did watch the livestream webcast and saw her walking and then saw her a few times watching convocation in the crowd. I was so glad the rain held off but can’t believe how hot and humid it’s been this week!</p>
<p>We left on Sunday - It felt like it was time to go. But, my D’s roommate’s mother got some pictures and video of the walk through the gates. We loved hanging out with her family - it was a great weekend! I really love and appreciate Brown even more after the drop off. We’re looking forward to family weekend. </p>
<p>My first post ever on CC. Does anyone know if there is a video available somewhere to watch the kids go through the Van Wickle gates? Was under the impression it would appear on youtube or on the Brown.edu website but haven’t been able to find it anywhere. Would love to see if I can spot my son. Thanks!</p>
<p>@brownmom1 - try this link <a href=“Convocation | Brown University”>Convocation | Brown University; to the Convocation page.</p>
<p>It has a slideshow with VERY few pictures of students coming thru the gates and then a video of the speeches where it sometimes pans the crowd and you can see if you find your son. I watched a live stream webcast of the students marching and was able to catch a glimpse of my daughter walking but not actually going through the gates. And they don’t seem to have that video anywhere. But I was able to see her in the crowd a few times during the speech - they all looked very hot!</p>
<p>@brownmom1 , you might have more luck here:" Brown University Orientation Welcoming Committee " on FB (that is the exact name you need to look for.) Tons of pics there, and the committee does a nice job of documenting the first week at Brown. (Tried to post a link, but it didn’t work).</p>
<p>@akmom124 - Thank you so much for directing me to the speech. I had not watched it and did find a good shot of my son in the audience. So nice to see him - they did look hot! </p>