<p>D is attending UVA in the fall. There is a Family Weekend in October. Browsing through the schedule from last year, I saw a bunch of lectures and seminars and nothing about family activities. Not sure what the purpose of the weekend is. I would rather come visit my D the weekend before, which will be Homecomings. Can someone tell me if my D and our family will miss anything if we skip the Family weekend and opt for several of the football weekends?</p>
<p>No, you will not miss ANYTHING for the first year. There is the third year ring ceremony, but you don't have to worry about that for a while.</p>
<p>You probably won't be able to get a hotel now for Family weekend anyway.</p>
<p>I've attended the past two Family Weekends and will do so again this year. It is a convenient time for my family to visit our son, and there are usually a few activities or lectures that are of modest interest. The latter ensure that our son does not have to entertain us for the whole weekend (something he appreciates).</p>
<p>You can evaluate your interest in the weekend activities based on their description in the schedule. What I can add is that, for the past two years, President Casteen's "state of the university" talk at the University Forum on Saturday morning has been well worth attending and has been quite interesting. He has started off by straightforwardly and openly addressing university issues such as incidents of racial intolerance, alcohol abuse, and crime on or near campus and then has moved on to discuss university achievements and plans. He talks for about a full hour and then he and other members of the administration take questions. After this talk, I've enjoyed sitting in on the Engineering Dean's review of the state of the Engineering School (my son is studying engineering). This is followed by an outdoor picnic at the Engineering School, where this past year I enjoyed meeting a number of my son's friends and their parents.</p>