King’s Hosts Parents Weekend 2021

On Friday, October 22, and Saturday, October 23, nearly 60 parents and siblings joined their sons and daughters for Parents Weekend at The King’s College. Parents Weekend gives parents the opportunity to meet their student’s friends, roommates, and professors, as well as to interact with other King’s parents. Family members traveled from around the country and abroad to visit their student on campus and to experience a taste of life at King’s. Last year’s Parents Weekend was hosted virtually due to COVID-19-related considerations, so this was the first in-person Parents Weekend in two years.

On Friday, parents had the opportunity to sit in on a class and then meet with other parents, faculty, and staff during an evening reception. At the reception, Vice President for Student Development David Leedy delivered a welcome and President Tim Gibson shared a College update. Parents and their students then broke into groups based on students’ House affiliations, to join in prayer with student leaders and advisors from each respective House.

Stan and Kerri Pleban, King’s parents and members of the Parents Advisory Council, were grateful that they were able to attend the reception on Friday night. “It was a wonderful way to reconnect with the King’s community and hear more about what our student is experiencing at King’s,” they said. “While mingling with other attendees, we were blessed to catch up with parents whom we had met in previous years plus make some new acquaintances. But our favorite part was being able to pray for the members of our student’s house, lifting up specific prayer requests and asking the Lord’s blessing on their academic year. That was special.”

Parents Weekend continued on Saturday morning with breakfast followed by a panel discussion with staff and members of the Parents Advisory Council on how to support students from afar. After the panel, parents attended breakout sessions on topics such as academic success, conflict resolution, and mental and emotional health.

Lindy Chapman, another member of the Parents Advisory Council, said she was particularly grateful for the opportunity to meet in person on campus. “After the disruption created by COVID-19, the efforts of David Leedy, Andrea Lopez, TKC staff, and student leaders to bring parents back to campus this year were greatly appreciated! Highlights for me were visiting my son’s Arts and Ideas class, meeting other parents, and Saturday’s panel discussion moderated by David Leedy.”

After a concluding lunch, families spent the rest of Saturday connecting with their students. There were no scheduled activities on Sunday, allowing parents to attend church with their son or daughter and enjoy time together in the City.