Family & Friends Weekend

November 2012’s Family & Friends Weekend could stand at being one of the best weekends at Chatham University! We had more than 35 families in attendance, totaling over 150 families and friends that were on campus. Traditionally, this event has been held over Halloween Weekend to balance the time between Fall Break and the Thanksgiving holiday. This year it was moved back a couple of weeks and Mother Nature gave us her blessing! With temperatures almost reaching the 70s we were grateful for the opportunity for our campus to show off its beautiful fall colors.

Friday night was the last day of Battle of the Classes, a weeklong competition between all class years fighting to be BOTC Champions. The week entails contests such as window painting, trivia nights, relay races and other mystery events in which students are judged based on results and participation. Song Contest is the final event for BOTC and to some, the most anticipated Chatham event all year! Families and Friends were invited to watch the students from each year compete in song and dance to win. Typically the lyrics include inside jokes about Chatham faculty and staff and are sung to popular songs. Each class year must also incorporate the lyrics to Chatham’s alma mater into a new song. The bar is set higher each year with these performances and this year was no different – with dance moves from Gangham Style to Disney Villians and 50 year reunions – our Chatham students covered it all!

The results from this year’s BOTC and Song Contest were:

Relay for Life: Class of 2013 Winners
Window Painting: Class of 2015 Winners
Monday Mystery Event: Class of 2013 Winners
Tuesday Mystery Event: Class of 2014 Winners
Wednesday Event: Class of 2016 Winners
Thursday Mystery Event: Class of 2015 Winners

Standings before Song Contest:

1st Place: 2013
2nd Place: 2014
3rd Place: 2015
4th Place: 2016

Song Contest:

1st Place: Class of 2013
TIED for 2nd and 3rd Place: Class of 2014 and Class of 2015
3rd Place: Class of 2016

The Dance Team performed while the judges tallied their scores in determining who was the Song Contest and BOTC Champs.

Congratulations Class of 2013 on leaving your legacy at Chatham!

Though for many, Song Contest was the highlight of the weekend, we were only getting started! Song Contest was followed by BINGO in Café Rachel with a packed house! Families won prizes from gift cards to local establishments to Steelers blankets, Chatham gift baskets and more! The big winner won $100 gift card to the Cheesecake Factory!

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Saturday started with academic presentations open to all families and friends. Dr. Joe MacNeil, assistant professor of the natural and physical sciences, presented with a handful of his students on the topic of Is Fracking Good for Pennsylvania. We also had Jean–Jaques Sene, assistant professor of global and public policy studies present the topic of Our Mission in World History. This was a great opportunity for parents and other family members to get a feel for what our students are learning in the classrooms as well as get to meet the faculty that are in the classrooms with their students every day!

After all the learning, families needed a break and headed down Woodland Rd. to the President’s house to enjoy Breakfast & Bellinis!

This was the 3rd year President Barazzone has hosted families and friends at her house for brunch. It is a great opportunity to tour her home, enjoy time with other families and even get to mingle with faculty and staff!

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After the Presidents’ brunch it was time for the younger siblings and community members to have fun! Student organizations hosted tables at Harvest Fun Fest where you could get a balloon animal, your face painted, make flowers out of fall leaves and other fun crafts!

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Other families enjoyed the Dive for Prizes and open swim at the Athletic and Fitness Center!

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Saturday evening offered a Wine Tasting from our friends at Dreadnought Wines located in the Strip District.

After the wining and dining, family’s cheers on the Cougars as the Ice Hockey team took on the Buffalo State Bengals. The Cougars ended up falling to the Bengals 1-4.

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Sunday was another beautiful day where we had the opportunity to enjoy unlimited ice cream while celebrating our Veteran’s at brunch, as well as tour our Eden Hall Campus. Dr. Hassenzahl, the Dean of the School of Sustainability and the Environment gave an excellent presentation on the future of Eden Hall and even let us inside the barn!

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THANK YOU to all families that came out to campus last weekend! We are so glad to have you on campus and to have you as part of our Chatham community. If you have any pictures from the weekend we would love to see them! Please send them to us at cffa@chatham.edu.

Thank you Chatham Family & Friends – we can’t wait to see what next year brings!

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